


IN THE SHADOW

by DritaA_Clexa4ever



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: AU, AU Clexa, F/F, Humor, Love/Hate, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28779201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DritaA_Clexa4ever/pseuds/DritaA_Clexa4ever
Summary: - "You are definitely pawing me right now ..." Lexa is annoyed, indeed the boss's hands are already on her hips.- “I apologize…” Griffin breathes intermittently into Haitley's lips.- "You are very lucky that you are my boss and that I dislike you, Miss Griffin ..." The brunette answers, turning away and touching her lips to the blonde's cheek.- "Under other circumstances, I would have fucked you ..."
Relationships: Clarke Griffin & Lexa, Clarke Griffin/Lexa
Comments: 53
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [В ТЕНИ](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/743451) by . PRADA .. 



> A translation of В ТЕНИ by . PRADA .  
> This fanfic was translated from Russia into English with permission of author  
> Author name: . PRADA .  
> Her work on website: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4487010
> 
> Sorry English is not my language, with beta the problem they do not have much time, I really try, I hope you like it, thank you anyway

The coffee machine hummed disgustingly, filling the plastic cup to the brim. The head ached like hell from drinking a whole bottle of whiskey alone yesterday, and this nasty lingering hum added even more discomfort. Lexa grimaced painfully. Although yesterday she clearly understood the consequences of the next morning, absorbing the amber liquid to her favorite music and, as always, sticking to Facebook, once again flipping through the pictures of this bitch.

And here she, by the way, rushes at full speed, as always late for half an hour, and sometimes more. Morning doesn’t start with coffee…  
Haitley cannot help smiling as Griffin claps her tall heels on the marble floor of the office, demolishing everything in her path. 

«Run, run, Clarke.» 

Taking a sip of the hot, bittersweet liquid, Lexa measures the distance separating them. It was necessary to urgently retire, until the blonde in a hurry tore her down either. The brunette retreated to the wall at the moment when Griffin was already rushing by. Immediately reeks breathed a sweet, expensive perfume, with a slight hint of citrus and vanilla, which immediately tickled unpleasantly in the nose. This is an allergy ... Maybe to perfume, or maybe to their owner. Most likely for the second. Lexa hasn't decided yet. Slowly she returned to her workplace, overbearing the damn desire - to sneeze and splash her drink on a project that was supposed to change her life. There were a couple of nuances left before introducing it to Marcus.

The glass door slammed with a deafening clink, and the brunette, shuddering, still spills a drop of coffee, fortunately not on documents, but on her bright blue shirt, leaving a brown mark on her right chest.

\- “Damn you, Griffin!" wiping her sticky hands with a damp cloth, says Lexa through her teeth.

She angrily looks back at the boss's office, noticing the blonde through the glass panoramic windows, who, entangled in her own scarf, almost stumbles and does not fall on the floor.

\- "Fool ..." Haitley concludes, returning to her project, only for a short while. There is a sound of broken glass, and the brunette's attention is again drawn to the boss's office.

Clarke leaves the office crimson with anger, dragging a broken vase of flowers in her hands. Lexa turns away, pretends to be as passionate about her work as the rest of the staff in the office, but still listens to the clatter of approaching heels.

«Only not to me,» mentally pleads Haitley, but the steps subside right in front of her table, and she has no choice but to raise an impartial look at Griffin.

\- "You there, what's your name? .." Clarke casually throws, looking at her employee and stopping a cold look at the stain from coffee.

\- "Lexa ..." the brunette reluctantly squeezes out of herself, intercepting this look with her green eyes.

\- “Never mind,” Clarke says coldly, placing the broken vase on her subordinate’s desk. - "Throw it somewhere ..."

\- "You have a trash in your office?" Lexa scoffs, watching as Clarke is momentarily lost. - "You could not bother yourselves and carry the broken glass through the whole hall. Plus, you could cut yourself."

Clark frowns and says nothing, then turns around and quickly walks back to her office, throwing shortly over her back:

\- "Throw it away."

Well, nothing else remains ... Haitley takes a deep breath, pulls out the urn from under the table and throw the vasa into it, while slightly cutting her finger, winces in pain. She puts it to her plump lips, licking a drop of blood with her tongue.

\- "Damn..."

Lexa had known Griffin from college of architecture. They both studied in the same course in different groups. Clarke was very popular, hung out all the time at some parties, got into trouble, which is why her popularity only gained height. What can we say about the guys, they followed her in droves of spellbound zombies, while Haitley spent the day and night behind her textbooks all alone, studying architecture almost by a tooth. And this was absolutely the right decision, since it was not difficult for her to pass the session ahead of schedule and finish her graduation project. There was a lot of free time, it was possible to go all out, only Lexa decided to spend it wisely, namely, to help other students with theses and at the same time earn good money. So Clarke, mired in «student debt» for the huge amount of money, asked her friend to make her thesis, and she, in turn, turned to Haitley. The topic of work turned out to be very interesting for the brunette, and she easily agreed to help, not suspecting how this would affect her life in the future. Lexa surpassed herself, the project turned out to be so good that it was sent by the college management to one large architectural company, which became interested in its such extraordinary execution and the appearance of ordinary and everyday things. Everything would be fine, only all the laurels went to Clarke, and then the position of vice president in the same company.

Lexa was assigned to the modest position of network distribution manager. The irony was that every time, looking at this pompous blonde, Haitley sadly realized that she was living her life... Everything could be changed by a lucky chance, namely the project that the brunette had been developing day and night for a year, and which now squeezing tightly with cold fingers, standing opposite the door of the office of the director of the company, Marcus Kane ...

\- "Good afternoon, Mr. Kane ..." timidly passing into a wide bright office, squeezes out the brunette.

The man turns from the window, in which he has been looking at the daytime bustle of the city for some time. He smiles into his 32 teeth and walks up to Lexa, benevolently extends his hand to her and replies:

\- “Good afternoon, my dear Haitley."

Why so warm? Because Kane appreciates good workers and knows everyone by name, unlike someone...

\- "This is my project, we discussed it the other day ..." Lexa holds out a red folder with papers, and Marcus takes it with interest.

\- "Believe me, Haitley, I promise you that I will not disregard it, but I will get acquainted with it later. I have an appointment with investors in Paris for tomorrow ..." Marcus puts the folder on the table and smiles guiltily, while his gaze studies the brunette's figure and stops at the same unfortunate spot on her chest.

\- "I understand ..." Lexa is uncomfortable with this look, and it was not all about the stain from coffee, but something else, more intimate.  
\- "I think I'll get back to work."

\- “Okay, I promise we'll discuss your project one of these days…” hears Lexa behind. She opens the door and hurries out, interrupting the look that must have been directed at her tight skirt and the shape she was hiding.

Marcus is not lying. He always keeps his word, and all that remains for Haitley is to wait. With these thoughts, she returns to her workplace again, completely forgetting about the headache that haunted her for almost half a day. And everything would be fine, only an annoying blonde looms before her eyes, pacing back and forth with piles of papers. Lexa is amused by her fuss, but not for long, Clarke if she felt her gaze and now Clarke clicks her heels straight to her with a bold step, waving at the same time some papers. She finally stops and glares at Haitley as if she is the cause of all her troubles. Lexa looks up and this pile of papers flies in her face.

\- "What is it?" Lexa asks, hiding her irritation, meeting an icy gaze.

\- "Do it now!" The boss answers strictly.

Lexa raises an eyebrow at the sight of a financial statement in the papers.

\- “It’s not my job, I don’t do bookkeeping…” Haitley answers calmly, handing the papers back to Griffin.

The blonde frowns, looks alternately at the papers and her subordinate, then gives out something from which Lexa can hardly contain a smile:

\- "You are in my subordination, and I decide what is included and what is not ..."

«Everything is clear, the problem is personal life...» Lexa thinks out and stretches her lips in a malicious smile.

The blonde's eyes darken, the pale skin turns red, just a little more and she will explode. It's fun and scary at the same time, but Lexa is not going to give up and take on extra work, which, although not her part, but which she could easily cope with. Enough, she's tired of raking other people's shit.

\- "Do you fucking find this funny?!" Clarke explodes, knocking the papers out of Lexa's hand and throwing them all over the place.  
\- "What the fuck is funny about my words?!"

«Congratulations, Miss Griffin, you have gotten all the attention of the office on you, and all next week you will have bones washed ...»

\- "You, as a leader, should observe business etiquette and limit yourself in such eloquent expressions," Haightley remarks to the angry blonde, not bothering at all what consequences this can lead to.

Griffin freezes only for a moment, then takes a step forward, rests both hands on the desktop lid, leans so close that it indecently violates the personal space of a subordinate, and, without taking her eyes off her wide green eyes, hisses angrily:

\- "You seem to want me to fire you?"

«Fuck, you owe it all to me, bitch!» Lexa thinks, but answers differently:

\- "For what? Because I pointed out to you your incompetence? Or because I refused to do someone else's work? I think, since you occupy such a high position, then, for sure, you can easily cope with this uncomplicated report yourself ... Unless that you are not reasonably occupying your post?"

The blonde's face changes and stands up abruptly. She knows what it is about, but does not understand how? How would anyone else know about this? Griffin is lost, looking anywhere, just not at those hateful and damn beautiful green eyes. The boss gives up, turns her back and goes to her office, and Lexa is delighted that she finally put this eccentric girl in her place. The clock squeaked, drawing the attention of the brunette. «Lunch break, just in time...»

Hot coffee with cream, burger, life becomes easier. Lexa watches people hurrying through the shop window. Fuss. Enrages. And this perfume is insanely infuriating, it just makes tears welling up in eyes. Lexa turns to the next table and… no, she’s not mistaken, Griffin sits there and, with a sour expression, picks at a salad with a fork. 

«What is this? To work in the same company for a year and not see her in order to one day rub each other's eyes?» 

The blonde looked up from the salad and stared in surprise at the one that completely ruined the already shitty mood. Lexa is watching, and so is Griffin. This «fight of views» is interrupted by SMS.

_«B: "Sorry, princess, I should have told you about my departure earlier ..."»_

_«C: "Go to hell, Bellamy! You'd also send me a text message from the airport ..."»_

Lexa is amused by the way Griffin furiously pounds her fingers across the display of her iPhone. «Blushing, apparently angry again.» 

_«B: "Baby, this is just a two week business trip, you won't even notice how I hug you again.»_

«Crazy, Lexa thinks as she watches Griffin and her smile into her iPhone.» 

_«C: "You know that I want you to always hug me, even now ..."»_

_«B: "I want it too ... Don't be sad, I love you..."»_

_«C: "I love you too..."»_

The blonde looks up from her iPhone and looks around. Green-eyed is nowhere to be found.

«I'll crush you, Haitley... You will know your place ...» thinks Griffin, remembering her morning fiasco. She gets angry again, nervously takes a twenty out of her purse, throws it on the table and leaves, clinging to the door threshold with a hairpin. She would have thrown her nose onto the sidewalk if someone’s hand had not caught her elbow in time.

\- "Thanks ..." Clarke mumbles in confusion, turning to her savior.

Again for a moment freezes and gets angry, angry at those green eyes, which boldly look at her with a grin.

\- “We'll settle.” Lexa grins and gives her boss a dismissive look.  
\- “You could use some safer shoes."

Griffin wants to answer something, but does not have time, Haitley lets go of her hand and leaves, leaving only the opportunity for her boss to burn her back with an angry look ...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- "You are definitely pawing me right now ..." Lexa is annoyed, indeed the boss's hands are already on her hips.
> 
> \- “I apologize…” Griffin breathes intermittently into Haitley's lips.
> 
> \- "You are very lucky that you are my boss and that I dislike you, Miss Griffin ..." The brunette answers, turning away and touching her lips to the blonde's cheek.  
> \- "Under other circumstances, I would have fucked you ..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A translation of В ТЕНИ by . PRADA .  
> This fanfic was translated from Russia into English with permission of author  
> Author name: . PRADA .  
> Her work on website: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4487010
> 
> Sorry English is not my language, with beta the problem they do not have much time, I really try, I hope you like it, thank you anyway

The day dragged on for an eternity, and this financial statement unsettled Clarke. Marcus asked to be handed it over by the end of the day, and Griffin couldn't even make out an iota of the report. This Haitley also looks like that with a mockery and infuriates, infuriates ... All anger subsides when the phone rings and the secretary says that it is Kane.

\- "I'm waiting for the report, Clarke..." he announces through the telephone receiver.

\- "He caused me a little difficulty ..." Confusedly mumbles Clarke into the phone, looking through the glass wall at Lexa, who is also fiddling with some documents.

\- "Ask Haitley to help you, the process needs to be accelerated, I give you half an hour ..." the blonde hears this hated surname and frowns in disgust. 

\- "I have already discussed this issue with her, she can do nothing to help..."

\- "Are you kidding? She somehow did it at my request and, mind you, did an excellent job ..."

Clarke wants to object to something, but short beeps are heard on the phone. She gets angry again and bites her lip, the blister from these fucking shoes still hurts like hell. Griffin throws them off and stands barefoot on the cold floor. «So much better.» Comes to the window and looks at the city for a long time. «Report. Fuck.» A knock on the door ...

\- "I got a call from Marcus, asked to help you ..." without waiting for permission to enter, Lexa goes into the office herself.

Clarke turns around and blushes, but this time not from anger, but from standing barefoot, and Haitley noticed. The brunette smiles mockingly and walks forward to the table, examining the scattered papers.

\- "A creative mess, as I understand it?"

Clarke sighs in annoyance ... Who is Haitley to discuss her workplace?

\- “The report is here,” Griffin says dryly, pointing to the pile of papers.

Lexa does not ceremony and sits in the vice president's chair. «Convenient,» she says. The blonde frowns and begins to get angry, besides, her shoes are under the chair, and standing barefoot on the floor like an statue is simply unacceptable for her, as a boss. She walks back and forth nervously as Lexa studies the papers.  
Haitley barely hides a smile as she watches Clarke from under her papers. «Here comes the mistake!» Lexa corrects the count and displays the formula, it remains to change the total in the remaining papers. «Too easy ...» 

\- “Here.” Ten minutes later, Lexa holds out the finished report, and Clarke exhales nervously.  
\- "Can I go home now?"

The blonde's eyes widen in surprise as soon as her gaze touches the wall clock.

\- "The working day is not over yet ..." Griffin answers gloomily.

\- “I think I deserve to leave early.” Lexa doesn't back down, looking at the blonde's tired face.

Finally, the blonde surrenders under the pressure of green eyes and nods her head approvingly.

\- "Goodbye, Miss Griffin ..."

The blonde is silent, examining the report and feeling a reproachful glance in the back before the glass door slammed ...

*****

Clarke came home late at night. In principle, it was possible not to leave this hated job at all, but need to put yourself in order, and most importantly, change your shoes. A warm shower is the thing, after it it is easier to lie down and fall asleep. Only Clarke does not succeed, she turns and turns, and this Haitley stands in front of her eyes with her haughty smile.

«Look at her, too smart....» Griffin begins to get annoyed, glancing at the clock, which measured her three hours of sleep. And he never came. And all because of this Haitley , damn her!

Finally, Clarke sleeps for a second, she even starts having a dream, only bad luck, she dreams of a green-eyed woman and says something, speaks, speaks and smiles ...

The blonde shudders and looks at her watch. She slept only about half an hour, and tomorrow, or rather today, she will have a hard day, since in the absence of Marcus she will be assigned additional responsibilities.

«Have to get up,» Clarke thinks resignedly as she rises from the soft and warm bed.

I really didn't want to climb back into the skirt. She pulled on tight blue jeans, a white T-shirt, a black jacket and sneakers. Yes, exactly sneakers, from which legs, if they could speak, would certainly say «Thank you» to Clarke. Finishing the whole composition with a high tail and light makeup, apart from a thick layer of foundation on the bruises under the eyes, Griffin called a taxi ...

*****

Lexa slowly steps into the crowded elevator to go up to her floor, the work day has not yet begun, and she even had 15 minutes left to drink coffee. The elevator is cramped and stuffy, and it still smells of something, so familiar and unpleasant, and so close ...

«It can't be ...»  
thought the brunette, looking back over her shoulder. It turned out, can. Behind her is Griffin, not late for the first time, only sleepy and gloomy, and in sneakers and not so tall, even a little smaller than Haitley. How can you not restrain yourself?

\- "I see, you still took my advice?" Lexa breaks the silence and draws the boss's attention to herself.

Griffin grows gloomy, not only that the brunette «didn’t let her sleep all night,» she also stands here in the elevator and scoffs. Clarke is silent and looks into sly green eyes. Signal, doors opened. A few more people walked in, pushing Lexa into Clarke.

\- "Careful ..." somewhere in the neck of Lexa, says Clarke.

It's somehow awkward ... Have to hug each other so as not to be crushed. A poisonous perfume hits Haitley's nose, hurts her eyes and tears well up. Griffin is surprised at the brunette's reaction. The elevator is still slowly creeping up, again the signal and stops, several more people pass.

\- "Is he rubber?" Lexa gasps, pressing her chest against Griffin.

The voice is so quiet, hoarse, almost horny. Of course, you can't breathe squeezed your chest, but how to explain this to the boss? Griffin blushes, either from anger or embarrassment. She, too, has a hard time, puts her hands on Haitley's shoulders, because there is nowhere else, and looks into bright green eyes. It's funny to Lexa, and she smiles, causing surprise on the boss's face and a little confusion.

\- "If it were not for the elevator, I would have taken your gestures as harassment."

Clarke flushes, removes her hands from the shoulders of the subordinate, tries to squeeze between them, but somehow it turns out wrong ...

\- "You are definitely pawing me openly now ..." Lexa is annoyed, still, the boss's hands are already on her hips.

\- “I apologize…” Griffin breathes intermittently into Haitley's lips.

\- “You are very lucky that you are my boss and that I dislike you, Miss Griffin…” the brunette replies, turning away and touching her lips to the blonde’s cheek. \- "Under other circumstances, I would have fucked you ..."

Clarke sighs nervously, squeezing as hard as possible into the side of the elevator ... Signal, doors open, and about 20 employees poured out of him in a wave, scattering to their workplaces. Freedom, only Griffin is in a stupor and does not take her hands away.

\- "Um ..." Lexa looks down mockingly, and the blonde wakes up, unhooks and bullets out of the elevator.

\- "So that once again I arrived on time ..." Griffin is angry with herself, slamming the office door.

She looks at the brunette through the glass, and she, as if nothing had happened, drinks coffee and looks through some papers.

«Pervert ...»  
Clarke blushes, remembering Lexa's words, and glances at her again, and she, as luck would have it, takes her eyes off the papers and looks insolently in response, also grins.

Griffin looks away, confused, and tries to look anywhere. She rereads the papers, only she does not understand the words, everything is like a fog ...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- "You are definitely pawing me right now ..." Lexa is annoyed, indeed the boss's hands are already on her hips.
> 
> \- “I apologize…” Griffin breathes intermittently into Haitley's lips.
> 
> \- "You are very lucky that you are my boss and that I dislike you, Miss Griffin ..." The brunette answers, turning away and touching her lips to the blonde's cheek.  
> \- "Under other circumstances, I would have fucked you ..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A translation of В ТЕНИ by . PRADA .  
> This fanfic was translated from Russia into English with permission of author  
> Author name: . PRADA .  
> Her work on website: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4487010
> 
> Sorry English is not my language, with beta the problem they do not have much time, I really try, I hope you like it, thank you anyway

Haitley smiles, sensing with peripheral vision that the blonde is looking at her. She could not even imagine that her joke about «fuck» would affect the boss so much.

«Interested or what?» Lexa is surprised, meeting her blue eyes. «Oh, I'll definitely make myself a problem with her, it was easier to stay in the shadows and not pay attention to her ...» 

There was not much work to do, sending a few inquiries to the Internet company mail, checking the ratings, waiting, and then faxing to the secretary, so, having completed all this in about an hour, Lexa sat in front of her laptop and was bored.

She rarely allowed herself to deal with extraneous matters at work, but now she just needed it.

Haitley turns to Griffin's office to check what the boss is up to. The blonde sits among the scattered papers and rummages in the phone. As usual. Twitter? Facebook? Lexa makes herself comfortable in the chair and logs into her account from her office laptop. A couple of messages from friends of the standard template like, «hello, how are you?» To which Lexa reluctantly replies in the same boring style: «hello, good."» Just as boring. She glances at the blonde, who is still on the phone, typing something quickly, smiling. Enrages so.

Suddenly, a message arrives, Haitley shudders, enters the inbox, hoping to see another boring question there, but there ...

_«Clarke: "Miss Haitley, your insolence is over the top!"»_

Oh, this is more interesting, Lexa barely suppresses a smile and quickly types out the answer:

_«Lexa: “Are you talking about that elevator situation, Miss Griffin? I am sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable..."»_

It didn't take long for an answer:

_«Clarke: “No! How dare you engage in extraneous matters during working hours?!!!"»_

Haitley is amused by this, she looks at the blonde, and she, blushing like a cancer, looks back.

_«Lexa: "What about you?"»_

Griffin gets angry and nervously taps her pencil on the oak table. Is silent.

_«Lexa: "Have I puzzled you Miss Griffin?"»_

Clarke bites her lip, almost bloody, breaks a pencil and tosses it into the urn. The effect is achieved, Haitley is pleased, stretches a little like a kitty and leans back in her chair.

_«Clarke: "Don't flatter yourself, Haitley, I'm just thinking how to punish you ..."»_

Lexa's eyes widen in surprise as she straightens up and rereads the message, trying to get it right. What does this ellipsis mean? Is this a flirting or a misplaced sentence? Probably still the second.

_«Lexa: “It's very simple: spray on me with your nasty perfume! XD "»_

_«Clarke: "They're too expensive to waste on someone as sassy as you!"»_

Lexa laughs and Griffin sees this, which makes her even more angry and nervously twists the phone between her fingers.

_«Lexa: "Get personal, Miss Griffin? Or, as they called you, Princess Barbie?"»_

Clark literally jumps up from her seat. How the fuck does Haitley know her college nickname? Griffin is furious, she almost kicks open the office door and growls at the whole office:

\- "Haitley, immediately to my office!"

The brunette bites her cheeks, trying to hide a smile, and goes, straightens the collar on her shirt and hides her hands in the pockets of her narrowed trousers. Clarke stands at the window looking out over the city.

\- "How do you know everything about me?" the boss says quietly, casting a tired look at Haitley.

Lexa is silent, wondering whether to open up.

\- "We studied in the same course in college in parallel groups."

The blonde raises an eyebrow, walks over to the chair and sits down.

\- “I don’t remember you,” Clarke replies after a while, then her face brightens with guess.  
\- "So you did my thesis project ..."

Lexa nods approvingly.

\- "Are you here to blackmail me?"

\- “I'm here to take my rightful place.” Lexa frowns at the cold blue eyes.

The blonde sighs noisily.

\- "Do you want to tell Marcus everything?"

Lexa doesn't hold back a grin. «Who do you think I am?!»

\- "No, relax, Miss Griffin ... There are many other ways to prove that I am better..."

The boss gets angry, rushes off the chair and literally hits Lexa against the wall. Her perfume once again tickles the nose unpleasantly, and the ragged breath makes it a little uncomfortable ...

\- "Do you think you are better than me?!" Clarke hisses angrily, glaring at his opponent.

\- "No." Lexa answers calmly.  
\- “I think I’m better suited for the position of vice president. These are two different things..."

\- "Are you now claiming that you are my competitor?"

Lexa breathes a sigh of relief as Clarke steps back to inspect her employee from head to toe.

\- “It's possible,” the green-eyed agrees, crossing her arms over her chest.

\- "Bet?" Griffin gives out, from which Lexa's eyebrows went up in surprise.  
\- "The order came from the Japanese. You're working on your project, I'm on mine. The project that they like wins... If I win, you quit, if you win, I quit. Everything is very simple."

Lexa grins at the cocky blonde while showing a sense of respect.

\- "I agree," Haitley nods her head approvingly and leaves the boss's office without her permission, leaving her to think about the mess she made ...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- "You are definitely pawing me right now ..." Lexa is annoyed, indeed the boss's hands are already on her hips.
> 
> \- “I apologize…” Griffin breathes intermittently into Haitley's lips.
> 
> \- "You are very lucky that you are my boss and that I dislike you, Miss Griffin ..." The brunette answers, turning away and touching her lips to the blonde's cheek.  
> \- "Under other circumstances, I would have fucked you ..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A translation of В ТЕНИ by . PRADA .  
> This fanfic was translated from Russia into English with permission of author  
> Author name: . PRADA .  
> Her work on website: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4487010
> 
> Sorry English is not my language, with beta the problem they do not have much time, I really try, I hope you like it, thank you anyway

The rest of the day passed without collisions. Griffin left for a business meeting, and Lexa continued to «mess around,» occasionally checking her mail to see if anything came from the boss. 

Meanwhile, Clarke, ignoring what the business partners said, thought about the bet. It was for a reason that she suggested this argument to Haitley. She had one draft in her drafts that she was working on when the order came. It remained to partially finalize it, adjust it to the tastes of the Japanese and approve it from Marcus. Rivalry is the best way to prove yourself, especially when you have a worthy opponent. And Clarke also wanted to wipe Haitley's nose, thereby proving to her that she deserves the position she holds, regardless of the graduation project. Although she did not have an impeccable knowledge of architecture, she knew the general principles of this knew it by heart. The main thing is to give the client what he wants. And what exactly, Clarke knew perfectly well. Traditions, traditions and more traditions ...

Thoughts were interrupted by a vibration from an incoming text message in her jacket pocket.

_«Bellamy: - "Hello baby, how are you? <3"»_

Clarke smiled and, to avoid drawing attention, tucked the phone under the table and quickly typed the answer.

_«Clarke: - "Hi! I'm hanging around at a meeting with partners, it's insanely boring here ... And I also miss you."»_

The blonde suppressed the urge to yawn, made herself comfortable in the chair and stretched barely noticeably. A couple of minutes later, another message came.

_«Lexa Haitley: -"Wow, unexpectedly..."»_

Clarke raised an eyebrow in surprise and replied:

_«Clarke: - "Damn it, Haitley, what are you talking about?"»_

The answer came almost instantly, which made Griffin flush with embarrassment and anger.

_«Lexa Haitley: - «Evil Boss:» - "Hi! I hang around at a meeting with partners, it's insanely boring here ... And I also miss you"»  
«Clarke: - "I was wrong, Haitley, this message was not meant for you. And why the hell am I the Evil Boss?"»_

Suddenly, the phone slipped out of Clarke's hands and fell to the floor, attracting the attention of everyone in the audience.

\- "Sorry ..." the blonde squeezed out, picking up and hiding the phone in her jeans pocket, while accidentally hitting the volume button and setting the sound mode.

Clarke loved the movie «Titanic» for the amazing acting and the tragic, sensual plot ... Therefore, when John William stood at the schedule and proved something to his colleagues, gesturing and spreading his arms on different sides, so that in colors and as best as possible to outline the situation of income growth for the next month, as you probably guessed, Clarke received a message accompanied by such a soundtrack Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On. The blonde hastened to remove the sound, but it was too late, all attention was again riveted on her person.

\- "Miss Griffin, with your soundtrack, outlined the situation in the company in the next month, if we fail to conclude a contract with the Japanese," John said reproachfully looking at the blonde, sitting down in his seat. - "We are on a sinking ship, guys, we need to do something ..."

As soon as Clarke stepped out of the spotlight again, she read the following text out of the corner of her eye:

_«Lexa Haitley: -"Ugh, like a rock off my shoulders ... I already thought that YOU fell for me after the incident this morning, Miss Griffin."»_

Clarke blushed, nervously biting her lower lip and typing in an answer.

_«Clarke: - "Go to hell, Haitley!"»_

Griffin breathed a sigh of relief when John announced that the meeting was over. She got up and hurried downstairs to the car to get home as soon as possible and relieve stress. Clarke threw the phone into the adjacent passenger seat and buckled her seat belt. The phone vibrated.

_«Bellamy: - "Honey, who else is this Haitley???"»_

\- "Fuck!" Griffin could not restrain herself, marveling at her own absent-mindedness today.

_«Clarke: - "Sorry, kitten, I was wrong. (((This is my subordinate, she decided to completely piss me off. How are you?"»_

Clarke pulled out of the parking lot, drove a couple of meters and stopped at a traffic light. Seizing the moment, she glanced at her phone.

_«Lexa: - "Griffin, damn it, YOU scare me with your ignorance. Don't say silence is a sign of agreement. XD"»_

\- "What does she allow herself!" angry blonde, distracted from the road and frenziedly typing the answer.

_«Clarke" - "Haitley, are you insolent at the end?! I'm your fucking BOSS!!!"»_

They honked from behind. The traffic light was green.

\- "Damn it!" Clarke pushed the gas hard.

_«Lexa: - "The workday is over, Clarke, and YOU are not my BOSS right now."»_

Clarke walked into the apartment and splashed herself some whiskey on the couch.

_«Bellamy: - "Don't pay attention honey. I miss you and love you so much ... ((("»_

Griffin smiled as she poured another whiskey and typed a reply.

_«Evil Boss: - "I love you..."»  
«Bitch Haitley: - "Wrong again, Griffin?"»_

Clarke flushed shyly. What the fuck is wrong with me today? Haitley knocked her out of the rut in the morning. This feeling was beginning to annoy ...

_«Evil Boss: - "Of course, Haitley! You are the very last person on Earth that I could fall in love with!"»_

_«Bitch Haitley: "Shall we bet?"»_

Clarke smiled involuntarily.

_«Evil Boss: - "Isn't one bet enough for us?"»_

Clarke tossed the phone aside and went to the shower. After about half an hour, she returned, but the answer did not come, causing conflicting feelings in the blonde, even a little disappointment. After drinking another shot of whiskey, Griffin lay down on the soft bed and immediately fell asleep.

*****

Clarke is insanely sleepy, but the persistent alarm clock does not give up, loud trill spreading through the room.

\- "Your mother!" the blonde swears, realizing that she is already quite late.

She instantly jumps up and rushes at full steam into the shower, then to the closet, putting on the first thing that comes to her hand. In this case, a tight-fitting matte dress with an impressive slit on the chest and a shiny belt. Light makeup, a high ponytail, which has already become a habit, shoes to match the dress with a tall stiletto heel and perfume... Clarke stops her gaze at the pink figured bottle, and for some reason Haitley's words about her perfume immediately pop up in her memory. She hesitates for a moment, not knowing why, then takes a completely different perfume and pours it on her hair, neck and wrists ...

Clarke parks at the office and rushes on high heels into the building, completely oblivious to the sides. She walks into the elevator and takes a breath. Nobody. Everyone has been at their workplaces for a long time except her, Griffin knows this, but she consoles herself with the fact that SHE is the boss, and the bosses are not late, but delayed, besides, Marcus will arrive at one o'clock, and now, oh my God, eleven! The blonde gets angry and furiously presses the elevator button with the desired floor number. The doors are slowly closing, but at that moment, someone grabs them with their hands and enters. Griffin freezes, meeting green surprised eyes.

\- "Good morning, Miss Griffin ..." Haitley says through a half smile, trying to hide her confusion.

\- “You're late, Haitley,” Clarke responds in a cold tone so as not to reveal her excitement and embarrassment.

The elevator is slowly creeping up.

\- "Like you, Miss Griffin," Lexa impudently turns to the boss and examines her with curiosity, the more confused Clarke is in this situation.

Griffin is not lost, pulls herself together and, in response, examines her subordinate. White skinny trousers, a gray-metallic silk shirt, unbuttoned at the chest to the point of indecency... Clarke catches herself thinking that she is looking at and instantly looks down at the floor. Lexa notices this and smiles contentedly, straightens a naughty strand of straight hair by the ear and takes a step, closing the distance with her boss. Griffin is frightened by such closeness, she retreats, resting her back against the cold wall of the elevator, and looks at the brunette in dismay. Lexa, leaning her hand next to her blond head, bends down and inhales deeply through her nose, then gives out something that makes Griffin treacherously shrink inside:

\- "You are somehow unusual today, for the first time I do not want to sneeze next to you ... New perfume? It's nice that you have recently begun to listen to my words more often ..."

The blonde feels a blush sticking to her face. What the hell is this? She pulls herself together and steps forward, closing the distance with Haitley and forcing her to withdraw her hand and back away.

\- “You flatter yourself, Miss Haitley. I do not care about your words, my favorite perfume has just run out... And in general, how are you doing with the project?" Clarke looks intently into surprised green eyes, chasing every word.

The brunette steps back and, crossing her arms over her chest, calmly answers:

\- "In process, and you, Miss Griffin?"

The blonde feels how the tension subsides, feels more relaxed and insolently looks her subordinate in the eyes that do not express any emotions.

\- "Like you ..." Clarke becomes uncomfortable under the cold gaze of green eyes.  
\- "I see you are a gambler, Haitley?"

The brunette's face brightens up and she does not hold back a smile.

\- "So you are interested?"

Griffin blushes with embarrassment again and, to hide her embarrassment, calmly replies:

\- "Why not? I love to win."

\- "Do you accept the second dispute?" green eyes squint slyly, watching the calm face of the blonde.

\- "Yes, I think it will be very funny ..."

Griffin doesn't have time to finish. Lexa sharply shortens the distance between them in one step, wraps her arms around the blonde's chiseled waist and presses the frightened blonde to herself. She kisses her so that Clarke feels her legs give way under the pressure of her subordinate's plump lips, and her lower abdomen begins to whine treacherously... She spontaneously responded to the kiss, not realizing that she was hit... the elevator doors flew open and several dozen surprised eyes stared at them. Haitley lets go of the shocked blonde and leaves, leaving the blonde standing in the elevator. The boss is brought to life by someone's whistle, and she blushes deeply and looks for its source with an evil look.

\- "What are you staring at?!" Clarke is angry.

She walks towards her office and loudly slams the glass door.

\- “Haitley, you were at your best,” says the senior manager, a gray-haired plump man, William Scott.

\- "Give me a hundred as you promised!" Haitley smiles, watching how the colleague's face changes.  
\- "Dispute, there is a dispute."

William hastily rummages in his pockets, then pulls a green note out of his wallet and hands it to Lexa.

*****

The working day was not good. Clarke sat more time in her office, trying to limit herself to exits from it to a minimum, so as not to meet the curious glances of her subordinates, who were just discussing her and Haitley.

\- "Bitch!" angry Griffin, through the glass wall of her office, watching Lexa, who was busy with work.

Haitley picks up the sound of an incoming SMS from work. She picks up the phone, knowing in advance who it is from.

_«Griffin: - "You deliberately made me a laughing stock among other subordinates?! Do you understand what will happen now?! Not only did we come together, but you also dared to kiss me!"»_

_«Haitley: - "Don't worry, in a week everyone will forget about it, except you ... You have very tender lips."»_

Haitley smiles and looks at her boss, who immediately flushes and looks at her reproachfully.

_«Griffin: - "You're nuts!"»_

_«Haitley: - "You yourself have agreed to one more argument. Are you not so sure of your victory anymore?"»_

Lexa watches the blonde how she nervously bites her lips and types a response.

_«Griffin: - "Damn it! I had girls, Haitley, and your kiss is not the most outstanding, believe me ..."»_

Lexa grins and types in an answer.

_«Haitley: - "Okay, I'll come right now and make you think differently ..."»_

Griffin looked in surprise at Lexa, who got up from her desk and was talking to someone on the phone.

\- "What the hell are you doing?"

Her heart sank slowly into her heels as Haitley headed for the office, but walked past, heading for the elevator. Clarke let out a shaky breath, feeling a little relief and, at the same time, a tiny disappointment that lurked under a deep layer in her soul ...

*****

\- "Good afternoon, Miss Haitley!" shaking Lexa's hand, Kane says affably.  
\- "Have a seat. I would like to discuss your project."

Lexa nods back as she sits down on the soft leather couch, hiding her excitement with all her might.

\- "It's just amazing!" after a couple of seconds of silence, Kane says.  
\- "Haitley, I would like to propose it to our Japanese colleagues at the upcoming meeting. How do you look to present it?"

Lexa is lost, she expected praise and so on, but not that she has actually won an argument with Griffin.

\- “What about Miss Griffin? As far as I know, she is also preparing a project for them ..."

Marcus thinks for a second, then answers with his usual optimism:

\- "Clarke hasn't submitted her project yet. In any case, I will insist that your project be presented at the meeting. So, my dear, get ready to introduce him..."

Marcus holds out his hand to Lexa, impudently peering into the neckline of her shirt. The brunette notices this, straightens her collar and buttons up the buttons she had unbuttoned for the other boss.

\- “Thank you for such a great opportunity to prove yourself,” Haitley replies, then watching as Kane's gaze moves over her figure.  
\- “In any case, I’ll have a request, don’t tell Miss Griffin that you have reviewed my project. I think she will surprise you no less."

\- "Okay... Haitley?" he stops Lexa at the door. - "How do you look at going somewhere tonight?"

«That was still missing for me ...» Lexa thinks, choosing the right excuse.

\- “I've got a lot of work to do today ...” she begins, but Kane interrupts her.

\- "You probably forgot that you work for me? And I have the right to release you from work at any time... I will pick you up today at ten o'clock,” Kane confronts with a fact.

Lexa has no choice but to nod her head in agreement and hastily leave the office.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- "You are definitely pawing me right now ..." Lexa is annoyed, indeed the boss's hands are already on her hips.
> 
> \- “I apologize…” Griffin breathes intermittently into Haitley's lips.
> 
> \- "You are very lucky that you are my boss and that I dislike you, Miss Griffin ..." The brunette answers, turning away and touching her lips to the blonde's cheek.  
> \- "Under other circumstances, I would have fucked you ..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A translation of В ТЕНИ by . PRADA .  
> This fanfic was translated from Russia into English with permission of author  
> Author name: . PRADA .  
> Her work on website: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4487010
> 
> Sorry English is not my language, with beta the problem they do not have much time, I really try, I hope you like it, thank you anyway

Clarke raises an eyebrow as she replaces the receiver. Marcus called and asked to release Haitley from work because of some important assignment. No sooner said than done. Griffin takes a deep breath, rises from her presidential chair and, as confidently as possible, walks to the door, and then to Lexa's desk, who sits from head to toe littered with documentation.

\- "More than ever?" Griffin smiles, instantly losing all confidence when Haitley lifts her beautiful green eyes to her.

\- "To the point, even a minute is not free to sigh dreamily over your new candid photo on Facebook ..." Haitley gasps, returning to the documentation.

Clarke is embarrassed, completely forgetting why she came here.

\- “Stop flattering, Haitley. Your tackles won't work,” Griffin says as seriously as possible.  
\- "I have a boyfriend."

\- “Nothing, I can share, however, until you realize that I’m much better than your boyfriend,” Lexa replies mockingly, emphasizing the phrase «your boyfriend».

\- “Oh my God, Haitley, how can you be so self-righteous?" the blonde is indignant, a little annoyed.

\- "I speak as it is, and you, that is, you, Miss Griffin, will soon understand this ... By the way, as I understand it, you did not come to me here to just flirt nicely, you have some news?" Lexa makes such an innocent look that Clarke is momentarily lost.

\- “I’m not flirting with you at all, what nonsense?!" the boss is angry, clenching her fists and drilling with blue eyes at Haitley.  
\- "Marcus asked to let you go home early. So you can go, Miss Haitley!"

Lexa puts the papers aside and asks Clarke with a serious face:

\- "So what? Should I quit now? I will leave when I see fit."

The blonde took a deep breath and, turning on high heels, went to her office. Actually, she was a little offended by the harshness in Haitley's voice. She relaxed too much from the green-eyed mawkish speeches, although one cannot relax with that. Therefore, busting all the conflicting feelings that the subordinate aroused, Griffin dialed someone's number.

\- "Hi, ma ... I just thought, because of this work, you and I practically don't see each other ... Can we go tonight to that our favorite restaurant?" After waiting for a positive answer, Clarke smiled.  
\- "Okay, then I'll pick you up as soon as I'm free..."

*****

Lexa finally got everything done. The clock was half past eight and, except for her and Clarke, there was no one left in the office. Haitley casts a weary glance at the boss's office as he collects the scattered paperwork on the desk. «What the hell are you doing here?» Griffin, as if hearing, looks up from the phone and looks at the subordinate. Waiting for her to leave, Clarke calmly followed to the elevator. Haitley pressed the button persistently.

\- "From the fact that you are pressing on her, the elevator will not come faster," Clarke does not hold back from the barbs.

Lexa gave her boss a cold look and ignored the comment and continued to press the button. Finally the elevator doors opened. Haitley walked forward, positioned in the far right corner, Griffin in the opposite. Half of the floors they drove in silence, the first one could not stand Clarke.

\- "Why did you kiss me this morning?"

Lexa looks at her boss mockingly and answers defiantly:

\- "Do you want to repeat?"

Clarke's cheeks instantly flush as she looks away from Haitley's mocking gaze in embarrassment.

\- "Nothing of the kind, I just wanted to find out the real reason for such a rash act... I'm still the «Evil Boss» for you..." the blonde from sudden excitement bites her lower lip and returns her gaze to the calm face of her subordinate.

\- “You challenged me, Griffin. I accepted it. And in general, say thank you that I limited myself to just this... And did not take the opportunity like this one, and did not fuck you..." Haitley says this with such a sexy intonation and hoarseness in her voice that Clarke even thought for a moment that it would be nice.

«Damn it, Griffin! You don't like girls, and in general, you have Bellamy...» Griffin repeats this like a mantra when she sees Haitley closing the distance, slowly approaching her from the back.

She come almost snugly and places her palms on the boss's shoulders, slowly but damn nicely, massaging them. Griffin feels as from the cold touch of Haitley's fingers on her skin, the lower abdomen is getting hot, and the lace panties are treacherously wet. She breathes deeply, completely relaxing and throwing her head back, bringing a mocking smile to Hailey's lips.

\- "I will be double pleasure to get your chair and you, and then you on it ... and more than once ..." Lexa whispers these words in Clarke's ear, barely touching him with her plump hot lips.

They have a sobering effect on Clarke: she, albeit with great effort, moves away from the temptress and, taking the most severe expression on her face, answers dryly:

\- "And we'll see..."

The elevator doors open, and Clarke confidently walks to the car parked by the office, feeling the burning gaze of emerald eyes all over her back ...

*****

Before the «date» with Kane there were only 20 minutes left. During this time Lexa was desperately looking for an excuse not to go. It was a pretty shitty situation... On the one hand, Haitley was flattered by the «good» attitude and increased attention of the boss to her, and on the other hand, all this, as it turned out, was not just that. She could have given him a «reject» back then, in his office, but it is not known how this affected her project later. Therefore, Haitley was faced with the task of pointing out to Kane more delicately that there was an exclusively business relationship between them.

After some time, namely, about twenty minutes, Lexa, dressed as businesslike as possible, proceeded to Kane's limousine.

\- “You’re adorable…” the boss says, bringing a casual smile to Haitley's face.  
\- "I want to take you to one very good restaurant, there in a relaxed atmosphere, you could discuss your project more thoroughly ..."

«Thoroughly?» Lexa grins as she peers out the city lights through the limousine window.

Haitley lets out a tired breath when the limo finally pulls up in front of the restaurant. The boss, like a true gentleman, comes forward and holds out his hand to her. The brunette smiles back, but opens the door and walks out on her own, ignoring the gesture. They have a business meeting, which means Lexa will act like a partner, not paying attention to the looks that Kane throws down the neckline of her blouse ...

*****

\- "How's it going with Bellamy?" Abby asks, watching her daughter closely as she stares at the phone.

Clarke breaks away for a moment and takes a sip of dry white wine.

\- "We sometimes correspond, he writes that he misses ..."

Abby looks at her daughter intently and says something that makes Clarke's eyes widen in surprise:

\- "Do you miss him?"

The blonde spontaneously blushes and averts her bewildered gaze to the side. She is lost for a second, then answers uncertainly:

\- "Yes, of course I miss him. It's just that so many things happened after our engagement..."

\- "What?" Mrs. Griffin asks, narrowing her eyes slyly.

Clarke takes a deep breath and replies:

\- "His leaving, the project that Marcus entrusted me, this bitch Haitley, who is constantly spinning in front of my nose ..." Clarke fell silent, peering at the visitors passing by the tables.  
\- "It can't be ..."

The blonde rubs her eyes and stares at the next table. She was one hundred percent sure that it was Kane, and the brunette who was with him reminded her as hell of Lexa.

\- "Haitley?" Abby wonders.  
\- "Is this the girl you told me about that made your graduation project?"

\- "Yes ..." Clarke replies in confusion, moving to the other end of the table to make it easier to see the boss's companion.  
\- "What the hell..." finally recognizing Lexa in the brunette, Clarke gives in surprise.

Lexa sits nervously fingering her napkin with her fingers as Marcus studies the menu. The restaurant was small but quite cozy, which gave it a relaxed atmosphere and quite relaxing. Only Haitley is tense, not because she is on a «date» with her boss, but because for some reason the familiar sweet-sugary smell tickles her nose, and tears spontaneously collect in her eyes... When a guess comes to Haitley's mind, she freezes and feels her heart pounding in her chest. At the same second, an SMS is displayed on the phone screen.

_«Clarke: - "I see you're not wasting your time..."»_

Lexa turns around and meets the evil blue eyes ...

\- "That's her?" Asks Abby with interest, watching as her daughter looks tensely at the next table.

\- "Yes!" Clarke replies sharply, glancing back at the phone.

_«Haitley: - "Are you following me, Griffin? And who are you with?"»_

For some reason, Haitley is angry, makes a quick order from the waiter, completely not listening to what Kane is now enthusiastically telling her.

_«Clarke: - "This is my mom, what the hell are you doing here with Kane?"»_

Lexa lets out a sigh of relief, answers Kane with something, and once again plunges all her attention into the phone.

_«Haitley: - "We have a business meeting with him, and in general, this does not concern you, Griffin ..."»_

\- "What's happening?" Abby asks excitedly, watching as Clarke gets angry and nervously bangs her phone on the table, looking at the next table.

\- “It's okay, I just don't like it when they don't play by the rules ...” Clarke replies dryly.

_«Clarke: "Yes, it does concern me! Are you trying to push your project through Kane's bed?"»_

Lexa flushes at this insolence and types a response.

_«Haitley: - "Be in the bathroom in 5 minutes."»_

\- "Are you okay?" Asks Marcus sympathetically, noticing how the brunette's face is changing.

\- “Yes...” Lexa replies automatically.  
\- "I don't feel well, I go away for a couple of minutes?"

The boss nods approvingly as he watches Haitley get up from the table and walk briskly toward the restroom. Clarke did not keep herself waiting long, after a couple of minutes, she bursts in after, loudly slamming the door. She stops opposite the green-eyed one, looking at her defiantly.

\- "We have a business meeting, Clarke..." a minute later, the brunette interrupts the silence, leaning against the toilet stall door.

\- "I noticed ..." the blonde chuckles sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest.  
\- "Have you decided to seduce Kane to promote your project?"

Haitley is angry, but doesn't show it. She breathes deeply into her lungs and calmly replies:

\- "I don't need to sleep with the boss to promote my project ..."

\- “Then what the hell are you doing with him?" Clarke does not stop, looking at the green-eyed and, stopping with a glance at the neckline of her blouse.

\- "He insisted that I go with him ..."

\- "And yet this is a date ..." the blonde grins, nervously biting her lip.

\- "Are you jealous?" carefully examining the face of Griffin, suddenly asks Haitley.

\- "What nonsense!" Griffin is indignant, looking away from the calm face of the brunette.  
\- "You're just my subordinate and ..."

Clarke froze in fright as she watched Haitley cautiously approach her.

\- "What are you doing?" turning to a whisper, asks Griffin in confusion, feeling the warm hands of the brunette gently rest on her waist.

Haitley looks at her in such a way that everything begins to float before her eyes, and there is nothing but those beautiful green eyes and plump lips that fold into a charming smile ...

\- "Honey, are you all right?" Abby enters the restroom, forcing Lexa to pull away from Clarke in confusion.

The green-eyed woman automatically opens the hot water tap and rinses her hands.

\- "It's okay, Mom ..." Clarke replies, blushing like cancer, looking from Lexa to Abby.  
\- "I'll be right there ..."

Abby nods approvingly and leaves, while Clarke stays where she is and stares at Haitley.

\- "What happens if you win?"

\- "What are you talking about?" the brunette replies in confusion, wiping her hands on a paper towel.

\- "Don't pretend that you do not understand what I mean ..."

\- "Am I allowed to?" the brunette smiles slyly, looking at the calm handsome face of the boss.

\- "No. But I want to know ..."

\- "Then you won't know ..."

Lexa briskly walked around Clarke and hurriedly left the restroom.

Abby was angry, you could see it in her frown lines on her forehead. Clarke sat down at the table, mentally preparing in advance for the upcoming serious conversation.

\- "So ... I understand that not only your graduation project connects you with her ..."

Clarke takes a deep breath, meeting the cold green eyes at the next table.

\- "She's quite attractive, but Bellamy... Clarke."

\- "God!" Clarke gets angry, takes a sip of wine, and answers with such confidence in her voice that she believes her own words.  
\- "I have nothing to do with her, she is my subordinate, mom... I just got into a bet with her that if her project wins, I will quit the company... And here she is with my boss, and they have a date, damn it! How do you order me to react to this?!"

\- "Well, certainly not melt in her arms ..." Abby remarks reproachfully, causing a wave of indignation in Clarke.

\- “I don’t ... What the hell?!" Clarke gasps angrily, drawing her attention to Mrs. Griffin's calm face.  
\- "The check, please!" she throws by a passing waiter.  
\- "You know, I was glad to see you. But, perhaps, this is where our conversation ends ..."

Lexa looks around in confusion, but the blonde is nowhere to be found. Marcus says something about his recent trip, but Haitley doesn't listen to him at all until he goes on the offensive.

\- "You are a beautiful girl, Lexa ..." Marcus covers the brunette's hand with his, drawing her attention to him.  
\- "I have been watching you for a long time, you are a very promising employee, but you should be a little nudged, so to speak, to start your career up the ladder ..."

Haitley chuckles, realizing where the boss is driving.

\- "We could have a good time for the benefit of the two of us ..."

\- “I don’t think so,” Haitley interrupts Kane, yanking her hand out from under his hot palm.  
\- “You said my project was awesome just to get me into your bed?”

Marcus is not embarrassed, but rather grins in a casual smile.

\- "No, your project is wonderful regardless of the outcome of tonight ..."

\- "I would like to believe in this, because further business, our relationship will not be able to go..." Lexa coldly answers, rising from the table.  
\- "And now, if you will, I will go home, tomorrow is a working day, and I would like sleep well. Thanks for dinner, Mr. Kane. I am glad that we have dotted the «i»."

Kane nodded, dumbfounded, watching Lexa gracefully walk past the tables to the exit.  
He sat for another couple of minutes while he finished his wine glass and asked for the bill before leaving the restaurant.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- "You are definitely pawing me right now ..." Lexa is annoyed, indeed the boss's hands are already on her hips.
> 
> \- “I apologize…” Griffin breathes intermittently into Haitley's lips.
> 
> \- "You are very lucky that you are my boss and that I dislike you, Miss Griffin ..." The brunette answers, turning away and touching her lips to the blonde's cheek.  
> \- "Under other circumstances, I would have fucked you ..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A translation of В ТЕНИ by . PRADA .  
> This fanfic was translated from Russia into English with permission of author  
> Author name: . PRADA .  
> Her work on website: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4487010
> 
> Sorry English is not my language, with beta the problem they do not have much time, I really try, I hope you like it, thank you anyway

It was naive to believe that everything would remain as it was before Haitley «dumped» the boss, so she was not at all surprised to find a lot of paperwork on her desk that had to be sorted out before lunch.

«Something tells me this is just the beginning…» Lexa says tiredly, starting to rake the desk.

The head was already seething with an endless stream of information that had nothing to do with Haitley's main specialty, let alone the eyes, which were unpleasantly cut from the small print of the documents being viewed. It was necessary not only to read them, but also to grasp the general meaning ...

\- "Fuck!" Lexa gets angry, distracted from the read document by chaotic thoughts in her head, and starts reading again.

Apparently Marcus doesn't like being refused. It's good that he limited himself to only additional work, and not constant «clinging» to a subordinate. This can be experienced and can be dealt with, and over time everything will surely «settle down» and return to «normal». At least Lexa wanted to believe it. 

After half an hour, she finally breaks down and throws the documents on the table, leaning wearily on the back of her work chair. Massaging her painfully throbbing temples with cold fingers, Haitley tries to concentrate again on work, only now memories of yesterday evening rush through her head.

«What happens if you win?» Clarke's voice sounds over and over, forcing Lexa to enter into a silent dialogue with her.  
«I don’t know…» Haitley replies to her haunting thoughts.  
«I have no idea why I'm trying to get you... Maybe I just like you? And now having such a ridiculous comic reason to get a little closer to you?»  
«And you asked me if I need it? I actually have a boyfriend...» replies the imaginary Clarke, gradually infuriating Lexa.  
«But, you yourself give a reason for me to act! Don't say now that you don't want me to get you ...» 

The fictional conflict suddenly interrupts the sound of the incoming message.

«Here she is, speaking of which...» Lexa sighs wearily, opening the flickering envelope on the display.

_«Clarke: - "I'm watching DATE with Kane failed? XD"»_

«Bitch ...» Lexa doesn't hold back a smile as she looks back at the boss's office.

Clarke sits at the table and watches her subordinate with interest.

_«Haitley: - "Are you so happy or gloating?"»  
«Clarke: - "Second) You look pathetic, I even wanted to buy you coffee)))"» _

Lexa looks at her boss through the glass, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

_«Haitley: - "No ... drink coffee yourself. I would not refuse something stronger now."»  
«Clarke: - "The work day is not over yet, Haitley. So I can only offer coffee for now."»  
«Haitley: - "Okay, then we'll wait until it's over and you can buy me something else. Okay?"»_

Griffin smiles and types in quickly.

_«Clarke: - "Are we going to have a 'business meeting'?"»  
«Haitley: - "The most businesslike!))"»  
«Clarke: - "Then it's a deal))"»_

*****

Time passed terribly slowly, despite the fact that Lexa was completely busy with work. After she sorted out the previous pile of papers, a new one followed, which was handed over by Kane's leggy secretary.  
«Why ask me out on a date when someone like that walks around?» Haitley sees off the girl with a tired look and again gets to work. If this continues every day, she will not stand, will get up and stupidly dump from here to hell. First on sick leave, and then to hell with the states. The only thought that warms the soul and the brain sore from work is that after seven they will go with the boss to a «business meeting».  
It was a surprise for Haitley that the blonde would take the initiative and invite her somewhere, although Lexa, purely technically, spontaneously asked herself. Griffin simply offered the tired and busy girl a cup of coffee.

«You'll get nothing, so work on the report, dear, and don't bother with all sorts of nonsense!»

Numbers... Formulas... LETTERS, more letters and more... Everything was blurry before her eyes, and Lexa desperately wanted to crumple these damn documents and shove them far away... in Kane's ass!

\- “Relax, overtime won't pay you anyway. Although, as your boss, I like your initiative and inveterate efficiency," Clarke's mocking voice is heard almost over the very ear of Haitley, making her start in fear and raise her tired, foggy eyes to her.

\- "Damn, what time is it?" the brunette asks, rubbing her eyes.

\- "Half past seven. I waited for you to finish, but you apparently weren’t even going to stop," Clarke replies, folding her thin lips into a charming smile.

\- "Yeah, I got a little carried away..." Lexa gets up from the table, flexing her numb legs and back.

\- "You can't always be on Facebook at work..." Clarke teases, meeting the frown of the brunette.

\- "Who would say... Well, boss, I'm ready, where are we going?"

Clarke smiles slyly, then quite unexpectedly takes Haitley's hand and drags her to the elevator.

\- “Not so fast, princess ...” Lexa says mockingly, but doesn't take her hand away and obediently follows.

\- "Going to any bar is too commonplace, don't you think?" Griffin finally answers, pressing the button on the elevator panel for the top floor. - “When I replaced Kane, I had this ...” She fished the key to his office out of the pocket of her tight jeans and handed it to the stunned brunette.  
\- "He just has a gorgeous minibar ..."

\- "We're going to be in trouble..." Haitley replies, looking at Clarke in disbelief.

\- “Not if we borrow one bottle of whiskey from him,” Clarke replies, winking playfully, exiting the elevator.  
\- "I've done it before..."

“Gri-i-i-ffin ...” Lexa whistles mockingly, stopping behind a blonde outside Kane's office.  
\- "There are cameras everywhere ..."

\- “I've already agreed with the guard, he will erase the notes,” Clarke replies calmly, opening the door and letting Lexa go ahead.

The blonde took a bottle of whiskey from the minibar and poured it into glasses, then carefully served Haitley's glass. The green-eyed woman gently took it from Clarke's hand, barely touching her soft warm skin with her fingertips.

\- "So, I propose to drink to the victory of one of the projects, regardless of whose it turns out to be!" through a smile, Clarke holds out, bumping a glass with Haitley.

\- "I support! For my upcoming victory ..." jokes the green-eyed, intercepting the mocking look of sly blue eyes.

\- “Damn it, you can't be so cocky, Haitley! Especially after you say no to the boss ...” Clarke laughs, taking a sip of the scalding amber liquid.

Lexa smiles back, enjoying how the whiskey burns everything inside.

She walks past the table and sits in Kane's chair, throwing her head wearily back.

\- "It suits you more than Kane..." Clarke says mockingly, sitting down opposite and throwing her feet on the table in a businesslike manner.

Lexa smiles at the corners of her lips and sips a little more whiskey and answers mockingly:

\- "If Kane could see us right now..."

\- "Yeah-ah... Lexa..." Griffin looks intently into the green eyes opposite.  
\- "Why didn't we communicate in college?"

Haitley smiles, licks her lips, which are bitter from the drink, and replies:

\- "Probably because I was not part of your social circle. You've been «miss popularity», and I was just a regular nerd... Besides, it was simply unrealistic to break through the crowd of your «fans»...

Clarke grins as she refills her empty glasses. She looks very closely at Lexa, as if she wants to ask something, but is silent.

\- "What?" Haitley asks mockingly, catching the hesitation in her eyes.

\- "Are you dating anyone? Don't think anything... I just... if you want you can not answer..." Griffin says in confusion, the old one to hide the embarrassment from nowhere.

\- “Yes,” Lexa replies calmly, looking into confused blue eyes.  
\- "I'm dating."

\- "And who is he... or... she?"

\- “You won’t believe ...” Lexa smiles as she watches the blonde's expression change.  
\- "This is my job!"

Clarke laughs in confusion, takes a sip of her whiskey and stares into the calm eyes opposite.

\- "And you? Do you really have a boyfriend?" asks Lexa a counter question, returning that incomprehensible tension that was a couple of minutes ago.

\- "Yes, I'm engaged. His name is Bellamy," Clarke replies hesitantly through a casual smile.

\- "Congratulations..." Lexa answers calmly, outwardly not reacting in any way to these words, although for some reason everything inside painfully clenched.  
\- “Now I’m sure that I’ll never win the second argument, so I wash my hands of it."

Clarke is offended. It is completely incomprehensible why. Oh, yeah?

\- "Why?" Griffin spontaneously says the first thing that comes to mind.

Lexa is lost, she looks away, embarrassed, and takes another sip.

\- "Everything is so serious with you..." the green-eyed responds, squeezing out a smile.

\- “Where has your confidence gone, Haitley?" Clarke answers mockingly, turning the conversation into a comic form.

\- "Wait, I drank too little yet," Lexa laughs, feeling an unpleasant aftertaste somewhere in the heart.

Griffin smiles sweetly back, filling her glass to the brim. She looks into the green eyes opposite and cannot tear herself away ...

\- “Well, then we’ll have to get you drunk first,” Clarke finally replies, sipping from a glass of whiskey and breaking the long eye contact.

Lexa raises an eyebrow in surprise. Is Griffin openly flirting with her?

\- And then what?" Lexa stretches and unfastens the button on her chest, pretending to be stuffy.

This gesture does not escape the attentive blue eyes, which were appraisingly examining the neckline, not at all embarrassed to be noticed.

\- "You will become more determined ..."

«Clarke, what are you doing?This devil is pretty good, but you shouldn't hang yourself on her so openly...» The blonde shook her head, chasing away the silly thoughts.

Lexa drains her glass in two gulps and looks Clarke in the eyes for a long, long time, as if trying to read her thoughts. Then she carefully gets up and approaches the blonde, sharply turning her on the chair towards her without interrupting eye contact. Griffin freezes under Haitley's gaze in anticipation of what comes next...

Haitley removes the glass from her hands and helps her up. She pushes the blonde on the table, seating her on it and comes so close that Clarke starts to feel dizzy from such closeness and from the fact that she feels the hot breath of the brunette on her lips... And she kisses her gently, sliding her wet tongue over thin lips, gripping them with her teeth, pulling and releasing, endlessly repeating and deepening this kiss. Gentle hands wrap around her waist, stroke her back and burrow into her blonde hair, causing goosebumps... Clarke interrupts the kiss because the phone vibrates in her pocket, she guiltily kisses Lexa on the corners of her lips and answers the call.

\- "Clarke, this is Joe. Kane just drove up to the office, get out soon!"

\- "Thank you, Joe."

\- "What happened?" Haitley asks, brushing her hair back with her hand, watching Clarke's face change.

\- "Kane is here! Take the bottle, we need to leave."

The brunette obediently took the bottle and followed Clarke out of the office. They ran down the corridor and turned a corner, stopping there to catch their breath. At that moment, Kane walked past, heading towards his office. The girls looked at each other and couldn't help laughing.

\- "Hush," Clarke whispered, putting a finger to her lips.

Lexa nodded positively as she followed the blonde to the elevator.

\- "Where are we go now?" Smiling, asked Haitley, looking into the dark blue eyes of the blonde.

\- "I would love to continue this... entertaining evening, but in the morning Kane and I have a meeting with partners ..." Clarke smiled apologetically, carefully removing the naughty strand of hair from Lexa's face and tucking it behind her ear.

\- “See you tomorrow then, Miss Griffin,” Haitley replies, nodding knowingly, feeling a little disappointed.

Clarke smiles and, before the elevator doors opened, she abruptly pulled the brunette to herself and kissed tenderly ...

\- "See you tomorrow, Lexa..."

*****

«What the hell are you doing, Griffin?» Clarke couldn't help smiling as she remembered the brunette's plump lips and the excited look in her nearly darkened eyes as she stepped out of the elevator. She wanted to stay, she wanted to continue, but something inside did not allow her to succumb to this impulse... And now Clarke is driving in a taxi, looking through the glass at the lights of the night city and regrets, regrets not staying ...

She paid the taxi driver automatically and went up to her floor. Fetching the keys from her purse, she tried to open the door, but to her surprise it was unlocked. Clarke took a can of pepper from her purse and cautiously walked into the apartment.

In the center of the living room stood a pretty brown-eyed brunette with a huge bouquet of red roses ...

\- "Hello Princess..."

\- "Bellamy?!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- "You are definitely pawing me right now ..." Lexa is annoyed, indeed the boss's hands are already on her hips.
> 
> \- “I apologize…” Griffin breathes intermittently into Haitley's lips.
> 
> \- "You are very lucky that you are my boss and that I dislike you, Miss Griffin ..." The brunette answers, turning away and touching her lips to the blonde's cheek.  
> \- "Under other circumstances, I would have fucked you ..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A translation of В ТЕНИ by . PRADA .  
> This fanfic was translated from Russia into English with permission of author  
> Author name: . PRADA .  
> Her work on website: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4487010
> 
> Sorry English is not my language, with beta the problem they do not have much time, I really try, I hope you like it, thank you anyway

\- “Aren't you happy to see me, princess?” Bellamy hesitantly walked over to the surprised Clarke, handing her a bouquet.

\- "What? No! It's just so unexpected ..." Clarke answers with a confused smile and accepting flowers.

She walks on wadded feet to the kitchen and puts flowers in a vase.

\- "You said you were coming next week?" the blonde wearily plopped down on the sofa and patted it with her palm, urging Bellamy to sit next to her.

He did not keep himself waiting long, sitting down next to her and tightly hugging and pressing the still confused blonde.

\- "We made a deal, and I immediately got on the plane... I missed you, Clarke..."

The blonde looks into the gentle brown eyes opposite and she is scared. Three days ago she would have squealed with delight to see him, but now... She wanted to get up and leave in order to interrupt these hugs, so as not to let him kiss her... But she stays, responds to the kiss and compares his lips with plump and tender lips that kissed a couple of hours ago ...

\- “Bell… I missed you too…” Clarke interrupts the kiss.

She fidgets on the couch in such a family and at the same time in someone else's arms, feeling awkward and wanting to quickly get rid of this unusual and new feeling.

\- “Today was an insanely tough day…” Clarke replies to Blake’s surprised look before pulling out of the embrace.  
\- "I would like to sleep... We still have so much time ahead of us to be alone..."

\- “Don't tell me you're lost the habit of me, princess…” Bell jokes, rising from the couch after Clarke.

And Griffin freezes in fright, scrolling his words in her head. Has she really lost the habit?

*****

Lexa walks under a cool stream of water, trying to cool the heat that burns inside, enveloping her heart, making it beat faster. Stubborn thoughts about the boss, about her hot lips and tender hands, pressing tightly to her, depriving her of air and holding her breath, don't leave the head.

«What will happen now?» Haitley has no idea how he will behave around the boss, and how Clarke will behave around her after all this...

«She's engaged, damn it!» Lexa smiles bitterly, lifting her face to meet the small trickles of water, as if trying to wash away all the chagrin from herself.

«You don’t think she’ll leave her boyfriend for you? Oops, sorry, not even a boyfriend, but, damn it, a fiance...» Lexa takes a deep breath and leaves the shower, wrapping herself in a white terry towel. She pours herself a glass of whiskey and lies down on the bed, including the cable, to distract herself somehow.

«Griffin herself made the first move, let her continue to take the initiative, damn, the main thing is not to fall in love...» Hateley takes a sip of the scalding liquid and watches some cooking show until she falls into a carefree sleep, finally free from troubled thoughts about a blonde who firmly stuck in her head and gradually occupied her heart ...

*****

Lexa rolled her eyes tiredly as she stepped out of the elevator and noticed a pile of papers that she hadn't made out since yesterday. She settled down more comfortably in the armchair, drinking her strong bitter coffee. Griffin was not yet there, this made Haitley a little worried, but remembering the boss's habit of «linger», the brunette took a deep breath, plunging headlong into work ...

Clarke shyly steps out of the empty elevator, heading towards her office, throws a bewildered glance at Lexa's busy work, and walks past, leaving behind a trail of her favorite perfume. Green-eyed looks up from the documents, winces from the importunate urge to sneeze and looks at the boss's office. Griffin, with sharp movements of her hand, signs documents that have accumulated in a high pile on her desk in a week.

Knew it that little Griffin would turn on the back... Lexa smiles at her own thoughts, occasionally casting an interested glance at the boss's office.

_«Lexa: - "Did you take a step forward and then take two steps back?"»_

Griffin flinches at the incoming message and raises an eyebrow in surprise.

_«Clarke: - "I didn't take any steps. Sorry, a lot to do..."»_

Lexa grins bitterly as she watches her boss, who hasn't looked at her all the time.

_«Lexa: - "Relax if you want to, we can forget last night."»_

_«Clarke: - "Damn, Haitley! I don't want to forget anything! I'm just very busy! Don't push on me... If you want to forget about everything yourself, then please! Although, what am I bothering, it's just an argument! Not so! is it?"»_

Clarke is angry. She looks at the surprised subordinate and nervously taps her fingers on the table.

_«Lexa: - "Okay.»_

Clarke explodes, gets up from her chair and brushes the papers off her desk. Lexa sees this and raises an eyebrow in surprise, then decides and goes to the boss's office, loudly slamming the door behind her, drawing the attention of blue eyes to herself.

\- "What happened?" Haitley asks anxiously, watching as Clarke walks to the window and stares at the city for a long time.

\- "You happened..." Clarke finally breaks the long silence.

She turns to Lexa and stares into the surprised dark green eyes for a long time.

\- "If you are depressed by what happened between us ..."

\- "Between us there was nothing and never will be ..." Clarke interrupts the subordinate, confused for a moment.  
\- "Bellamy is back ..."

\- “Your fiancé ...” Lexa guessed, still keeping her lingering eye contact on track. - "Clarke, it's okay, really ..."

\- "Nothing fucking okay!" Griffin screams, closing the distance between them.  
\- "I kissed him, but I thought about you... I looked into his eyes, and imagined you... And we should have a wedding in a month..."

Clarke looks from green eyes to Haitley's plump lips, invitingly biting and licking her lower lip. Lexa sees this, but keeps her emotions in check. And Griffin can't stand it first... She pushes the brunette against the wall and presses against her, covering her lips with her own. Clarke kisses Lexa's lips so passionately and greedily that Lexa begins to gasp under the pressure. Haitley almost loses control, but remembers about the glass doors of the office and steps away, leaving the boss bewildered...

The brunette boldly heads to the elevator to go up to the top floor. The door to Marcus's office is open, and Haitley enters the boss's office without knocking.

\- "Miss Haitley?" Marcus raises a confused look at the determined brunette.

\- “I’m withdrawing my project,” she replies calmly.

\- "Why?" Marcus is clearly taken aback by this statement.

\- "I'm quitting..."

*****

Clarke hasn't seen Lexa since morning. This very alarming and worried the blonde. She wrote a message with the text «where are you?», But there was no answer... What was the surprise of Griffin when the next day Lexa's workplace was occupied by a completely unfamiliar girl. This pissed her off, she resolutely approached her and sternly asked:

\- "Who are you?"

The girl blinked in confusion, releasing the papers from her hands in fright and dropping them to the floor.

\- "My name is Laura Price. I work here Miss Griffin..."

Clarke does not believe her own ears, she raises an eyebrow in surprise and asks sternly:

\- "Working? Where is Haitley?"

\- "Oh, you mean the girl who worked here before me?" Laura guesses.  
\- "She quit, Miss Griffin ..."

These words are deafening. Clarke is sorely lacking for air, she inhales noisily and walks on cotton feet to her office. There, with trembling fingers, she dials Lexa's number, but instead of beeps, she is told the words that turn her brain inside out:  
«The number does not exist or is dialed incorrectly...»


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- "You are definitely pawing me right now ..." Lexa is annoyed, indeed the boss's hands are already on her hips.
> 
> \- “I apologize…” Griffin breathes intermittently into Haitley's lips.
> 
> \- "You are very lucky that you are my boss and that I dislike you, Miss Griffin ..." The brunette answers, turning away and touching her lips to the blonde's cheek.  
> \- "Under other circumstances, I would have fucked you ..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A translation of В ТЕНИ by . PRADA .  
> This fanfic was translated from Russia into English with permission of author  
> Author name: . PRADA .  
> Her work on website: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4487010
> 
> Sorry English is not my language, with beta the problem they do not have much time, I really try, I hope you like it, thank you anyway

Six months passed, but there was no news from Lexa. Clarke went to her apartment a couple of times, but the brunette was not there, and one of the neighbors told to the desperate blonde that she had moved to another city. Until the last moment Griffin could not understand why Haitley did this, what did she do wrong? It was maddening, and it was insanely disturbing to work. Clarke even considered quitting the company, staring at Lexa's former workplace out of habit. She desperately missed those green eyes that were always watching her with interest through the glass wall of the office, she missed her sharp remarks about her appearance and the perfume that Clarke threw away, succumbing to an incomprehensible impulse. The blonde realized with horror that she was obsessed with Haitley, noticing her image in the crowd of company employees rushing to their workplaces. She followed, trying to catch up with her, confidently catching her hand, tightly squeezing her fingers on her wrist, but a completely unfamiliar girl turned around, looking at the boss's disappointed face in surprise and fear. This was repeated a couple of times...

Clarke desperately wanted to know why Lexa left, why she left everything, left her... Ckarke even hired a private detective who tried to track Haitley, but he never found anything. The brunette cut off all the ends leading to her, as if she did not exist at all. And Clarke was slowly but surely going crazy...

It took her another six months to calm down and start living anew, to let go of these obsessive thoughts about the brunette. Deep down, Clarke knew that Lexa had done the right thing, cutting off the feelings that had arisen so suddenly, upsetting the blonde's usual way of life. She was engaged... She had Bellamy... Who knew how things would have turned out then...

\- “Miss Griffin, Kane asks you to come up to his office,” says the pretty secretary, breaking Clarke out of her own thoughts.

\- “Thanks, Lana,” Clarke replies, a bewildered smile on her face.

Clarke walks past Laura's desk to the elevator, casting a quick glance at the employee. She still couldn't get used to her...

After a couple of minutes, Clarke walks into Kane's office without knocking and sits down opposite. The man was looking through some documents, and Griffin knew that it was better not to distract him now, so she sat in silence for five minutes until Kane looked up at her with a tired look.

\- "Clarke, you already know that we are teaming up with the Head Corporation... Their main branch is located in Los Angeles, I need you to come with me to the directors' meeting there tomorrow," Marcus confronts.

\- "And how long will we stay there?" Clarke nods approvingly.

\- "A week. You yourself understand that all issues cannot be solved in one day. Head-Corporation is a young company that has achieved tremendous success over the year, but despite this, as in any well-oiled mechanism, time tests it for strength... I was categorically against the merger, but our position on the market has greatly weakened, so we need to look for new solutions and…"

\- "I understand perfectly, Marcus," Clarke interrupts the boss, noticing how he grows gloomy with every word.   
\- "Before we do anything, we need to study the conditions that are offered to us... The main thing is not to make hasty decisions, Head-Corporation may be a successful company, but our name and quality of the services provided have been tested over the years, and we cannot put it in jeopardy..."

\- “I think we’ll be fine.” Kane allows himself a smile, and Clarke sighs in relief.   
\- "We leave tomorrow at 3 pm. Don't be late, we'll meet at the airport."

\- "Okay. See you tomorrow, Mr. Kane."

\- “See you tomorrow, Miss Griffin."

*****

Clarke started packing her suitcase that evening. She packed three dresses and a pair of business suits, several pairs of shoes and clutch bags, in the appropriate color scheme ...

The blonde desperately wanted change for a year and finally, albeit in the company, but these changes have come. Nobody knew what would happen next. How this merger will affect, with whom to work and share responsibilities, was under question and on the agenda. The upcoming flight worried, intrigued and discouraged so that Clarke spent half the night without sleep, thinking about it. Finally, when the dream did come, someone insistently rang the doorbell.

Griffin opened her red eyes, from lack of sleep, and, putting on soft slippers with the faces of plush bunnies, headed for the door with a serious intention to smash the caller to smithereens.

\- "Bell, what the hell?" Opening the door and watching the brunette, who was barely standing on her feet, Clarke answers with displeasure.

The acrid smell of alcohol hit her nose, and Clarke rolled her eyes tiredly, mentally preparing herself for the upcoming «concert.»

\- “I've been thinking about you all night, Clarke…” The dark-haired man barely moves his tongue, holding out a large red rose to Clarke.

Clarke takes the flower, breaks it in half, and puts it in the trash can. Bellamy smiles, but the way the veins on his face run, it says that he is fucking angry.

\- "Why can't you come to terms with the fact that we are not together?" Clarke replies, crossing her arms in displeasure.

Bell stomps on the doorstep, examining the knuckles on his hands.

\- "Because I don't understand why, Clarke?!" he speaks loudly and carefully looks into the blue eyes opposite.   
\- "We were doing well, until the moment I went on a business trip. What happened to you? Damn it, you canceled our wedding without even giving a reason! What have I done wrong? Explain to me? What?!"

He wants to go into the apartment, but Clarke stops him, pushing him into the chest with her hands.

\- “Bell, listen to me… It's not about you…” Clarke takes a deep breath, repeating those words for the hundredth time. - "I'm just not ready to connect my life with someone... You are a wonderful guy, you deserve the best, Bell..."

\- "I don't need anything better, I need you!"

\- "I don't love you..."Clarke's nerves break, she answers rudely, not at all worried about how much pain her words cause.

Bellamy is silent. A moment and Clarke slams the door in front of his nose, regretting that she opened it a minute ago. A powerful punch on the door makes the blonde flinch and angry at the same time.

\- "I hate you!" a drunken voice is heard outside the door, and the blonde wearily rolls her eyes, heading into the room.

She tried to be polite, she didn't want to hurt Bellamy, but when they chase you for a year it gets annoying... Wrapping her head in the blanket, Clarke listened for a couple of minutes to the sounds outside the door, before succumbing to fatigue, falling into the long-awaited deep sleep…

*****

It was stifling at the airport, and Clarke unbuttoned a pair of buttons on a tight-fitting white shirt as she walked to the baggage check line. Marcus sat in the waiting room, carefully reading the news bulletin in the newspaper before the boarding of their flight was announced... After five hours of flight, Clarke breathed a sigh of relief as she sat down in the back seat of the car next to Kane.

\- "Damn, I hate flying."

Marcus nods his head in understanding, holding out the cell phone to Clarke.

\- “Corporate number,” Kane explains.

Clarke smiles and puts the phone in her clutch, checking the volume settings beforehand ...

Griffin wearily threw the suitcase aside, closing the door to the room with the sign 315 behind her. The boss moved in next door at 317. The meeting with the representatives of Head Corporation was scheduled for lunch the next day, which allowed a little relaxation and rest from the flight. Having prepared the outfit for tomorrow in advance, Clarke showered and settled comfortably on the large soft bed, instantly falling asleep.

The alarm went off exactly at ten. Clarke took her time to shower and donned a navy blue slinky business suit, completing her VP look with light makeup, a shiny black clutch and patent louboutins. Putting her corporate phone in her clutch, she left the room just as Kane was about to knock to her.

\- “Good morning, Miss Griffin,” the man smiles sweetly, looking at his companion from head to toe.   
\- “You look great..."

Clarke also glances over the stylishly dressed boss in a gray business suit and replies:

\- "Good morning, Mr. Kane. I'm ready, can we go?"

Kane nods positively, inviting Clarke to take his under the arm.

\- "Meeting at a nearby restaurant. As far as I was informed, we will be honored by the president and founder of the company, together with the CEO ..." continues Kane, opening the door to the rented car and letting Clarke go ahead.   
\- "It is curious to meet a person who has achieved such success in a short time ..."

Clarke nodded in response, looking through the glass on the city streets, trying to distract herself and hide the sudden excitement that befell her. The restaurant was quiet and comfortable with live music. Kane ushered Clarke to the reserved table and politely pulled a chair back for her.

\- “They seem to be delaying a little,” Marcus replies, looking around in confusion.

A few minutes later, a tall, slender blonde walks up to their table. She smiles affably and holds out her hand to Kane, who has jumped from his seat.

\- "Good afternoon, Mr. Kane!" shaking hands with the man, the blonde answers, she turns towards Clare and examines her carefully, which causes surprise and embarrassment. - "Mrs ..."

\- “Miss Griffin…” Clarke corrects, shaking the outstretched hand.

\- “I’m the CEO of Head Corporation, Rachel Burroughs,” the blonde introduced herself, sitting down on the chair Marcus had pushed back.   
\- "Alexandria Debois apologizes to you, she will be a little late, but we can start without her. So, Markus, let's discuss the terms of our association ..."

\- “I'd like to discuss this directly with Alexandria herself.” Kane looks at Rachel intently.

\- "Ok, that's your right ..." the blonde is not embarrassed a bit, turns her head to Clarke and looks into her eyes.   
\- "In that case, I can offer you to place an order and have lunch..."

Clarke wearily poked at the salad with her fork, listening to Rachel and Kane's conversation with the corner of her ear. They slightly touched on the affairs of both companies, the prospects for the upcoming merger, etc., which caused unbearable boredom in Griffin. Suddenly, Rachel's phone vibrated and she answered an incoming call.

\- “Yes, Miss Debois… Ok… I'll tell them,” Rachel replied, drawing attention to herself.

\- “Miss Debois will be arriving now."

«Finally, this, for sure, an old professional woman, will deign to give us time…” Clarke frowns in displeasure, trying to prick a naughty olive on a fork.

Suddenly someone's warm hand unexpectedly falls on her shoulder, forcing her to shudder and turn around. Green eyes carefully examine the surprised face of the blonde, forcing her to fall into a stupor. The heart sinks into her heels, and Clarke swallows nervously, looking at the one she so badly dreamed of seeing all this time. 

A strict beige trouser suit, a white shirt with an unbuttoned collar, a gray loose tie and matching boots... Hair is straightened and styled in neat strands, from which it smells of an incredibly tasty perfume.

\- “Miss Debois…” Rachel nods respectfully, bringing Clarke and Kane back to reality.

\- "Lexa?" Clarke breathes, jumping up mechanically from her chair.

\- "Miss Haitley?" Marcus is amazed no less than Clarke, staring in surprise at his former subordinate and failed mistress.

\- "Debois already," Lexa smiles sweetly, sitting down on a chair next to Clarke and giving her a quick distant glance.   
\- "I adopted the name of my wife..."

Clarke froze, feeling a tiny «microinfarction» in her chest. The air was sorely lacking, from the coma rolling up to the throat. She took a sip of wine and, without looking up at Lexa, continued to tear at the olive with her fork. What was she counting on? Lexa never loved her, so she left as soon as she felt that Clarke began to have feelings for her... At least that's what Clarke herself thought, without delving into the essence of the conversation between Kane and Lexa ...

\- "And why didn't I immediately guess that it was you?" Kane, not tired, continues to praise the former subordinate.   
\- "I always believed that you can achieve more... And now, we are practically partners!"

Lexa smiles and nods back as she watches as Clarke distantly continues fiddling with the olive.

\- "I am delighted to be working with you again, Mr. Kane. I hope the merger of our companies will only bring us a positive result." Lexa says this in a serious tone, sitting more comfortably in her chair and accidentally hitting Clarke's leg with her knee.

Griffin looks sternly into green eyes until Lexa turns away to take a sip of wine.

\- "So, we would still like to know more about your company and the conditions that you can offer us ..." Clarke says sternly, interrupting their coddling with Kane.

Clarke wanted to quickly discuss all the details and end this unexpected and unpleasant meeting. Lexa meets serious blue eyes and smiles sweetly, causing bewilderment on the blonde's face.

\- "And immediately into battle?" the brunette answers mockingly, fixing her gaze on Clarke's chest.   
\- "Rachel, would you be so kind as to let Clarke know the politics of our company..."

\- "I don't think we were using the word «you,» Miss Debois, or was it «Mrs.»?" Clarke responds to the tone of the brunette, watching the green eyes in front of her darken, and the eyebrows creep up in surprise and unexpected insolence.

\- "Really?" the brunette answers defiantly, catching Rachel's surprised look.   
\- "I think we switched to «you» a year ago, Clarke... I'm sorry, I don't know what surname you have now ..."

\- "Unfortunately, I'm still Miss Griffin ..."

Lexa smiles casually, takes a sip of wine, and scrutinizes the blonde, who was already on edge.

\- "As far as I remember, you were engaged, Miss Griffin ..." Lexa casually drops it, which makes Clarke slip a casual smile.

\- "I would be happy to chat with you on personal topics, only we have gathered here to discuss the conditions under which our company will cooperate with yours, MRS. Debois."

\- "Miss Debois..." corrected Lexa, receiving another batch of lightning, which was sent by the blue eyes of the «former» boss.   
\- "I will gladly answer all your questions."

«Then tell me, why the hell did you run away?» flashed through Clarke's head, causing a mad desire to voice this question.

\- “Clarke is right, Lexa...” Marcus intervenes as he watches Clarke breathe a sigh of relief.   
\- "I do not deny the fact that Head-Corporation is a very successful company, but it emerged recently and the fact that it is now receiving recognition does not mean at all that this will continue ..."

\- “I think you’re in no position to question my company…” Lexa replies coldly, taking her smartphone out of her pocket.   
\- "If you want to continue to stay afloat, then you HAVE to agree to all the conditions that will provide you with Rachel. Now... I beg your pardon, but I have a meeting. If you have any questions, please call this number ..."

Lexa took out a business card and handed it to Clarke, looking into surprised blue eyes and ignoring Kane, who was tightly clutching a glass of wine in his hand, still not moving away from the brunette's insolence. 

Griffin reluctantly accepted the card, her fingertips barely touching Lexa's hand, which caused her to look down at a half-empty glass of wine in front of her.

\- "See you, Mr. Kane ..." Lexa got up from the table, giving those present a haughty look.   
\- "Clarke..."

The blonde looked up indifferently to meet the inquisitive greens.

\- "See you, Miss Debois ..." Clarke replies coldly, watching the retreating brunette.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- "You are definitely pawing me right now ..." Lexa is annoyed, indeed the boss's hands are already on her hips.
> 
> \- “I apologize…” Griffin breathes intermittently into Haitley's lips.
> 
> \- "You are very lucky that you are my boss and that I dislike you, Miss Griffin ..." The brunette answers, turning away and touching her lips to the blonde's cheek.  
> \- "Under other circumstances, I would have fucked you ..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A translation of В ТЕНИ by . PRADA .  
> This fanfic was translated from Russia into English with permission of author  
> Author name: . PRADA .  
> Her work on website: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4487010

\- “Clarke, do you agree?” Kane's voice brings Griffin back to reality, she puts down a business card with the gold inscription «Alexandria Debois» and looks up at the boss in confusion.

\- “I completely rely on your point of view, Mr. Kane,” Clarke says wearily, eliciting an approving smile from her boss.

\- “In that case, tell Lexa that we are ready to cooperate.” Kane smiles seductively, which escapes the surprised look of both girls.

\- "That is great! I will prepare all the necessary documents, and we can sign them within two days." Rachel smiles sweetly, collecting the papers in a folder and placing it on the edge of the table.  
\- "In the meantime, I am expecting you tomorrow for a tour of our head office, where you can personally observe the work process and get acquainted with the leading architects of our company."

\- "Very interesting, but you don’t give out tickets to the zoo?" Clarke grumbles to herself in displeasure, not worrying about what might be heard.

However, Rachel does not react to this in any way, she carefully gets up from the table and in goodbye holds out her hand to Kane, and then Clarke.

\- "See you tomorrow, Mr. Kane and Miss Griffin ..."

*****

\- “I still don’t get it in my head that Haitley was so successful.” Kane continues to admire the former employee as he walks up to his floor of the hotel complex with Clarke.

Her legs ache as hell from high heels, and Clarke the last thing in the world wants to hear about Lexa, but her hand still tightly squeezes the business card in her pocket, already pretty rubbing it. 

Having said goodbye to the boss, the blonde took out a key card from her clutch and went to her room. The day was crazy. Lexa, who announced a year later, who, on top of everything, turned out to be the president of Head-Corporation and the news of her marriage... All this fell heavily on the fragile shoulders of the already tired blonde. She took a hot shower and settled down on the comfortable bed. Pulling this «ill-fated» business card out of her jacket pocket, Clarke looked at the number for a long time, deciding whether to dial it. She had questions, and yes, damn it, she wanted to hear that sexy, slightly husky voice that drove Griffin crazy every time she heard it ...

\- "Debois ..." Clarke says thoughtfully, running her finger over the golden letters.

But she, too, could be married to Bellamy, only Clarke is not one of those who will connect her life with an unloved person... What about Lexa? Does she love her wife? Is she happily married? Clarke was curious and, at the same time, bitter to talk about this topic. 

She glanced again at the number that she almost learned by heart and, tearing the business card into small pieces, threw it into the trash can ...

*****

Morning does not start with coffee... Morning start with a cold shower, makeup, choosing a suitable outfit, and only then comes the turn of bitter coffee without sugar, but with a double portion of cream. At least it was another typical, no different Clarke Griffin morning. 

Marcus sent a message that a car would be waiting for them in an hour to take them to the headquarters of Lexa's company... Lexa-Lexa... The thought that maybe Clarke would see her there was disheartening. 

For a long time, the blonde spun in front of the mirror in a bright blue knee-length dress, fitting a figure, picking up a clutch for it and just admiring her appearance. She looked adorable and it was «not for Lexa, but for herself.» In any case, Clarke would never admit it to herself...

Marcus was sitting in the car when the driver politely opened the door in front of Clarke, presenting her with banal and numerous compliments, to which the blonde smiled casually and replied «thank you.»

\- "In this world, only two things are beautiful: today and you, Miss Griffin ..." Kane smiles sweetly, stopping his gaze at the neckline of the dress on the vice president's chest.

\- "Marcus, are you back for the old?" the blonde pretends to be indignant, intercepting the boss's gaze.

\- “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm in some kind of romantic mood this morning,” the boss explains, looking from Clarke to the road lane.

After twenty minutes of rampant chatter from the boss, the car pulled up in front of a high-rise building in the city center. Clarke let out a sigh of relief as she got out of the car and headed for the main entrance. More than five security guards at the entrance, the entrance to the building is only by passes - all this caused surprise and at the same time a little grin from Griffin. «Now it is clear why Lexa has achieved such a result ... She is holding her employees in hostage ...»

\- “Show your pass,” the guard demands gravely, forcing Kane and Griffin to exchange a surprised look.

\- "It's okay, John, they're with me..." Behind Clarke, the same voice is heard, which now, like a year ago, is driving her crazy.

Lexa... In black skinny jeans, a white polo shirt and sneakers, stands at the door and carefully examines Griffin, once again taken by surprise. The guard nods approvingly, presses the button, opening the entrance and allowing Clarke and Kane to enter the office.

\- “Good morning, Mr. Kane ...” Lexa looks up at Griffin, who is clutching her fingers on Marcus's shoulder, standing a little dazed.  
\- "Clarke..."

\- "Good morning, Miss Debois..." the blonde answers defiantly, ahead of the boss and throwing a disdainful glance into the green eyes of the brunette.

\- "You didn't call me yesterday, although I was really looking forward to your call..." Lexa escorts the guests to the elevator, gently placing her warm palm on Clarke's waist.

Such an innocent gesture turned the blonde's mind upside down. She proudly straightens up and takes a step to break this unwanted physical contact. But Lexa does not lag behind, walks alongside, casting a curious glance at the calm face of the blonde.

\- "I didn't find a reason why I should have called you, Miss Debois ..." Clarke pronounces the surname of the brunette with a certain amount of malice, irritating her.

But Lexa smiles, out of the corner of her eyes watching Kane, who fiddles with his smartphone, not attaching importance and attention to the squabbles of the girls.

\- "What if your wife would pick up the phone. I didn't want to put you in an awkward position ... '' Clarke sneers as she stood in the elevator behind Kane.

Lexa rolls her eyes, crossing her arms. She stands in the opposite corner of the elevator, with her back to Clarke's inquisitive gaze.

\- "We have a trusting relationship with her, Miss Griffin..." after a few seconds of silence, the brunette calmly answers, receiving a reproachful laugh in response.

\- "I'm glad that at least someone can still trust you..." Clarke is, deep down, angry as hell, but keeps herself in control, burning the back of the brunette's head with an evil look.

Lexa is silent, she looks up tiredly at the scoreboard, checking which floor they are on. It remained quite a bit and after a couple of minutes of oppressive silence, the elevator doors opened.

Rachel was already there waiting for them.

\- “Rach, as ever on time, please, you’ll be so kind give Mr. Kane a little tour in the construction department, and I’ll take care of Miss Griffin,” the brunette says in a serious tone, grabbing the shocked Clarke by the elbow and dragging her down the hallway.

\- "Of course, Miss Debois ..." the equally bewildered blonde answers after them.  
\- "So, Mr. Kane, please follow me ..."

*****

\- "Let me go, it hurts!" Clarke pulls her hand away as Lexa pushes it into the spacious and light office.

\- “Sorry,” Lexa replies guiltily, pushing the chair in front of Clarke.

She looks long and hard into blue eyes before starting this serious and difficult conversation.

\- "What do you want from me, Lexa?" Clarke leans back in the chair, settling back and examining the calm face of the brunette.

\- "I want to explain everything, Clarke..."

\- "I don’t want to listen to anything, it doesn’t matter anymore!" Clarke makes the most unflappable and impartial face in the world.

\- "Has... Look, I'm sorry that everything turned out that way, that I left without explaining to you..." Lexa stands facing the window, watching the city bustle and feeling the blue eyes on her back with her skin.

\- "You, damn it, ran away when I practically confessed my love to you!" Griffin breaks down.

\- “You were engaged, Clarke!"

\- "And you decided not to lag behind! Took and got a wife..." Clarke replies with bitter mockery, tapping her fingers on the oak table top.

\- "It was necessary!" Lexa does not give up, turns around and boldly walks towards Clarke, stopping opposite and looking at her calm, serious face.  
\- "I was not going to leave the city... But my grandfather died and left me a will, according to which I will inherit only after I conclude a marriage... And I married my friend Costia and took her last name Debois..."

\- "Well, listen to you, so a whole Santa Barbara..." Clarke sarcastically.  
\- “That doesn't change the fact that you escaped. You could just as well have been named Griffin..."

Lexa raises an eyebrow as she plays Clarke's words in her head.

\- “Don't flatter yourself, nice try Miss Debois…” Clarke gets up from the chair, heading for the door.  
\- "Say hello to Costia."

\- "Clarke, wait!" Lexa tried to stop the blonde, but she already left, loudly slamming the door behind her.

Clarke rushes down the hallway to the elevator, not looking back and almost gasping for breath from the surging emotions. Anger, resentment, jealousy, despair, all these feelings are mixed, forming in the soul one poisonous cocktail called «Disappointment».  
«What were you counting on, Haitley, that after your 'sorry' I will throw myself on your neck?» 

Clarke bites her lip nervously as she pushes the button to call the elevator. She looks around, making sure Lexa is not trying to catch up with her and boldly steps through the open iron doors.

Half an hour later, Clarke bursts into her room, kicking off her shoes as she goes. Enrages. This whole situation, damn it, infuriates Lexa, infuriates Costia, infuriates Kane, who continues to endlessly call the blonde's corporate number to find out if everything is okay with her. 

Only Clarke wasn’t okay. She blew off Bellamy, the only person who loved her, for the thought that Lexa would change her mind and come back... «Sucks...» Clarke sits down in a comfortable chair by the window and pours herself some whiskey. 

She replays today's conversation in her head hundreds of thousands of times until her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of an incoming SMS message.

_«Marcus Kane: -"Miss Griffin, Alexandria said you left because you didn't feel well. Are you okay?"»  
_

_«Clarke: - "Thanks for your concern, Mr. Kane, I'm feeling better."»_

Clarke twirls the glass in her hand, examining the amber liquid that burns her throat pleasantly.

_«Markus Kane: - "I am very glad to hear that, I hope your well-being will not prevent us from signing the documents at the directors' meeting tomorrow?"_

Hear? Seriously? Clarke rolls her eyes wearily as she punches back.

_«Clarke: - "No. It not prevent, but now, if you don't mind, I want to take a break."»_

Clarke turns on some music channel and moves with the glass to the bed. Tomorrow I have to meet with Lexa again. «Behave detached, as if I don't care? Let her realize that she made a mistake and lives in perfect harmony with her girlfriend... Debois... Alexandria... Pompous bitch... I liked you when you was just Lexa Haitley, an ordinary network distribution manager, executive and damn sassy... You will no longer lead me to emotions, you will not make me feel weak and dependent on you.» The blonde closes her eyes, presenting the one to whom she has dedicated her internal dialogue. Those eyes... the smile of plump lips that she want to kiss all the time...

\- “Damn ...” Clarke suddenly jumps out of bed, brushing the whiskey spilled on her dress.

*****

Clarke barely blinked, this time clearly distinguishing the demanding knock on her room door. Reluctantly, she rises out of bed, kicking the empty whiskey bottle.

\- "I'm coming..." Clarke says in response to the knock, straightening the folds in yesterday's dress, in which she fell asleep.

\- "Clarke, it's already half past nine, we need to be at the directors' meeting in half an hour!" Kane is damn angry, he walks into the room and sits on a chair, gazing at the empty bottle. - “I don’t know what’s going on there with you and Alexandria, but this should not affect our work. Therefore, I give you ten minutes to put yourself in order... I think that you feel great, judging by the fact that you have already taken the «medicine»..."

Clarke is ashamed, she hastily goes to the shower to somehow put herself in order.

\- “Ten minutes, Miss Griffin. I will be waiting for you in the car..."

Exactly ten minutes later, Clarke walked down to the car. She pulled her hair into a ponytail, tinted her eyelashes and put on a formal gray pantsuit.

\- “I'm ready, we can go,” the blonde says, catching the boss's mocking gaze.

She lowers her eyes, noticing that in a hurry she buttoned the wrong button, revealing a fairly expansive view of the white translucent lace bra.

\- "Looks like someone obviously overmedicated yesterday..." Marcus jokes, making Clarke blush...

*****

Rachel met them at the entrance, smiling charmingly as always.

\- “Glad to see you again,” the girl politely lets Kane and Griffin go ahead.  
\- "It's a pity that Miss Griffin left us yesterday... I had a lot of interesting things in store for you..."

\- "Did you get me a ticket to the zoo?" Clarke says, half-turned to Rachel.

Rachel grins as she heads forward to the elevator.

\- “I will take into account your wishes next time and will definitely take you there,” Rachel replies, pressing the button for the required floor.

\- "Will it be a business meeting or a date?" Clarke jokes, meeting Kane's surprised look.

Rachel bites her lower lip thoughtfully and, after a couple of seconds, replies:

\- "It will depend on where you wake up later, Clarke..."

\- "And it will depend on where I put you..." replies Clarke, watching with interest the calm face of the girl.

\- "All right, that's enough!" Kane interrupts.  
\- "You completely forgot about me, but I have such a rich imagination..."

The girls laughed amicably, looking at each other shyly. After a couple of minutes, the elevator doors opened. Rachel paused across from Clarke, examining her appraisingly.

\- "Further along the corridor to the right. I will not go with you, I need to pick up the documents in my office..."

Kane nods approvingly as he heads forward. Clarke followed, too, but Rachel caught her hand, pulling her towards herself. She carefully slips her card into Clarke's jacket pocket and whispers languidly in her ear:

\- "Call me, we will agree when we go to the zoo."

Clarke raises an eyebrow at the girl's warm breath on her cheek.

\- "Rachel, I can't find the documents ..." Lexa suddenly leaves her office and freezes in surprise, watching such a spicy scene.

The girl scared away from Clarke, worriedly straightening her jacket.

\- “They’re in my office, I’ll bring them in now, Miss Debois ...”

Rachel quickly walks down the hallway and disappears into her office, leaving Clarke alone with Lexa.

\- “Good morning, Miss Debois,” Clarke says triumphantly, meeting the bewildered gaze of green eyes.

Lexa silently nods in response and hurries off to her office ...

*****

Griffin walked into the conference room, looking for her name plate among the empty seats. Clarke grimaced when she saw the Griffin sign next to the Debois sign. «Only not this,» thought the blonde, sitting down in her seat and looking around. Marcus was sitting at the opposite side of the table and talking about something with enthusiasm with one of the representatives of the Head Corporation. 

Lexa walked into the room a few minutes later. Everyone rose from their seats respectfully to greet the president of the company. Everyone except Clarke. She typed Rachel's number into her contacts. Lexa, ignoring such impudence, greeted everyone who had gathered and carefully sat down next to Griffin, throwing a folder with papers on the table and thereby attracting the blonde's attention to herself.

\- "I want to thank all those present for a good job. Thanks to all of you, Head Corporation has been keeping afloat and has been gaining momentum for a whole year... And now, the moment comes when our branches grow, expand not only within this city, but also others... And now I am glad to announce that now we have a world-renowned company, Arcadia-Hall-Indenstreet! Let's welcome a wonderful man, the president of this company, Marcus Kane!" Lexa ended her speech with a quick glance at the bored Clarke.

Everyone applauded Kane in unison and he, like Lexa, also took the floor.

Rachel sat next to Kane and wrote something down.  
To somehow amuse herself and forget about Lexa's close proximity, Clarke carefully typed a message.

_«Clarke: - "I want tonight ..."»_

Rachel looks up in surprise at Clarke, receiving a sweet smile in return.

_«Rachel: - "We're having a reunion party tonight, didn't Marcus tell you anything?"»_

Clarke shakes her head, drawing Lexa's attention with this gesture.  
Lexa quickly scribbled something on an A-4 sheet and slid it over to Clarke.

**(Lexa: -"Rachel?Really?")**

Clarke hums in displeasure as he snatches the fountain pen from the brunette's hand.

**(Clarke: - "This is none of your business, Miss Debois.")**

Lexa is angry, you can see it by the way wrinkles appear on her forehead, she quickly scribbles something in response.

**(Lexa: - "She's my employee and right-hand, so as far as, Griffin!")**

Clarke barely stifles a chuckle as she glances at Marcus speaking in front of the directors.

**(Clarke: - "Then would you mind if I have fun with your right hand tonight?")**

Lexa looks up and it looks like a hole will appear in Clarke's head. This at the same time pleases Griffin and frightens. The brunette returns her cold gaze to the note and crumples it into a paper snowball. 

Further, ignore. After everyone had spoken, Rachel submitted documents to be signed by Kane, then Lexe. 

Debois looks at her subordinate strictly and carefully, causing her bewilderment. Then she puts on a sweeping painting and silently leaves the meeting room, making it clear that the meeting is over.

\- "What's wrong with her?" Sitting down next to Clarke, asks Rachel as soon as everyone starts to leave.

\- "She probably have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed..." Clarke shrugs mockly, looking at her charming companion.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- "You are definitely pawing me right now ..." Lexa is annoyed, indeed the boss's hands are already on her hips.
> 
> \- “I apologize…” Griffin breathes intermittently into Haitley's lips.
> 
> \- "You are very lucky that you are my boss and that I dislike you, Miss Griffin ..." The brunette answers, turning away and touching her lips to the blonde's cheek.  
> \- "Under other circumstances, I would have fucked you ..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A translation of В ТЕНИ by . PRADA .  
> This fanfic was translated from Russia into English with permission of author  
> Author name: . PRADA .  
> Her work on website: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4487010

Clarke had two hours to clean up and get ready for the party. She even thought about not going anywhere, staying in a hotel, lying in a warm, soft bed, watching some interesting program on TV and drinking something strong. She was especially pleased with the expression on Miss Debois's face when she learns that Clarke has not come ... «Suck it, Haitley!» Griffin almost decided on such an unusual move, only a message from Rachel made her change her mind.

_«Rachel: - "This evening will be lost to me if you don't come ... (((Will have to return tickets to the zoo ..."»_

Griffin smiles sweetly, not taking her eyes off the phone display... And then it dawns on her... «Now it's my turn to bring out your emotions, Lexa.» Quickly typing a reply message, Clarke rushes at full steam into the shower, elated by her idea and Miss Debois' little revenge. ;

After the shower, Clarke puts her hair into neat wavy strands, puts on evening make-up that emphasizes all the brightness and depth of her eyes, and pulls out of her suitcase her favorite tight pink floor-length dress with a deep cut on the back. «Bite your elbows, Lexa, that's what you lost,» Griffin thinks, smiling proudly, examining herself in the mirror. A couple of touches: perfume, clutch, matching sandals, and Clarke leaves the room, heading for a taxi and typing a message to the boss that she left early ...

The crowd, consisting of company employees and their guests, continued to arrive. Clarke looks around, hoping to meet someone she knows. After all, leaving early was not such a good idea. Rachel called and said that she would be late and that Marcus would be arriving for the start of his performance. All Clarke had to do was wait. 

She walks to the stage and, having snatched a glass of champagne from the waiter, settles down at a round table. Suddenly, someone's hands gently lay on her face, closing her eyes. They smell like a pleasant, slightly sweet perfume.

\- "Rachel, stop..." Clarke replies through a smile, removing other people's hands from her face and looking back at their owner.

Her heart is pounding so that it seems a little more and will jump out of her chest... Clarke opened her mouth slightly in surprise. Behind her is Lexa in a snow-white dress that fits a chiseled figure, in high-heeled shoes, which makes her taller than Clarke by almost half of her head. She coldly looks from above at the confused blonde, contorting her lips into a careless half-smile and removing the wavy strand of hair from her face with her fingers, tucking it behind her ear.

The crowd, consisting of company employees and their guests, continued to arrive. Clarke looks around, hoping to meet someone she knows. After all, leaving early was not such a good idea. Rachel called and said that she would be late and that Marcus would be arriving for the start of his performance. All Clarke had to do was wait. 

She walks to the stage and, having snatched a glass of champagne from the waiter, settles down at a round table. Suddenly, someone's hands gently lay on her face, closing her eyes. They smell like a pleasant, slightly sweet perfume.

\- "Rachel, stop..." Clarke replies through a smile, removing other people's hands from her face and looking back at their owner.

Her heart is pounding so that it seems a little more and will jump out of her chest... Clarke opened her mouth slightly in surprise. Behind her is Lexa in a snow-white dress that fits a chiseled figure, in high-heeled shoes, which makes her taller than Clarke by almost half of her head. She coldly looks from above at the confused blonde, contorting her lips into a careless half-smile and removing the wavy strand of hair from her face with her fingers, tucking it behind her ear.

\- "You didn't guess it right. Sorry I didn't live up to your expectations," the brunette replies in a cold tone, casting a dismissive emerald gaze at Clarke.

\- “This seems to be your credo,” Griffin replies mockingly, finally taking control of her emotions.

Lexa smiles back haughtily and casually replies before leaving Clarke alone.

\- "Have a nice evening, Clarke..."

And Clarke follows Miss Debois with an admiring look, noting for herself that the slender long legs of a brunette would look even more chic on her shoulders ...

\- "There you are!" Rachel smiles sweetly, hugging Clarke around the waist, thus returning her from the sweet dreams with the participation of Miss Debois.

Clarke smiles in confusion, squeezes out a «hello,» and drains her champagne in one gulp.

Ahead was a small concert of a famous local rock band and, in between, a speech by Miss Debois and Kane herself.

The speech of Marcus Clarke turned a deaf ear, she practically knew it by heart, as she directly applied her efforts in writing it. The blonde was talking animatedly about something with Rachel, not noticing how the song ended and the presenter announced that Lexa would now perform. Miss Debois gracefully walked to the microphone with a glass of champagne in her hand ...

\- "Is Alexandria's wife here too?" Clarke asks casually, catching snippets of the green-eyed woman's phrases.

\- "Costia? No, she's in Paris now, she has her own business there... I saw them with Miss Debois several times, they were so happy... I can't imagine how it is to love someone from a distance..." Rachel replies animatedly making it clear that the topic of conversation about the boss is not her favorite.

\- "Poor Lexa ..." Clarke replies sarcastically, feeling annoyed and glancing at the brunette, who was still giving her speech.

\- "Damn it, it's insanely boring here... I can't wait for this whole circus to end and we go to the zoo with you..." Clarke fakes a deep breath and looks languidly at her companion.

In response Clarke, Rachel leans towards her, barely touching her cheek and whispers softly in her ear:

\- "I think we will postpone the zoo for later... You are so sexy in this dress that I can't wait to take it off ..."

She leans even closer and leaves a light kiss on the corner of Clarke's delicate, exciting lips. Griffin smiles in confusion and freezes in fright, meeting the icy gaze of green eyes. Lexa saw it and Lexa gets mad as hell, interrupting her speech and draining her glass of champagne.

\- "And now, dear friends, I would like to give the floor to my colleague and close friend Clarke Griffin!" Unexpectedly for Clarke, in a cold tone, announces Miss Debois into the microphone.

\- "What the heck?" bursts out from the shocked blonde, she looks at Lexa, and she smiles maliciously in response.

All attention is now on Clarke, she swallows nervously and cautiously climbs onto the stage.

\- "Are you out of your mind?" Clarke hisses, catching up with the brunette.

Lexa is silent and looks intently at Griffin.

\- "I... Um... Damn... '' Griffin stutters into the microphone, looking around the people gathered in the banquet hall.  
\- "I beg your pardon, it's just unexpected for me... I don't know how to make a speech, and in general I think it's boring... So... Have fun... Something like that."

Clarke turns on her heel to meet mocking green eyes. She sharply closes the distance with Miss Debois and, grabbing her hand, drags her behind the curtain of the wings.

\- "Why did you do that?" Drilling a malicious glance at a completely calm brunette, Clarke asks sternly.

Lexa is silent, looking at Griffin's red face with anger and embarrassment. She tests her strength to find out how far Clarke can go in this state ...

\- "So that you understand what it is like when you are not listened to," Lexa replies after a couple of seconds.

\- "Hell no! You're jealous of me, Haitley!" Clarke responds viciously, poking a finger into the brunette's chest.

\- "Would you want that?" Slyly, narrowing her eyes, replies Lexa.

Clarke is embarrassed, averting her confused gaze.

\- “No,” Clarke lies.  
\- “Be jealous of your wife, Miss Debois, and leave me alone."

Lexa grins, steps forward, closing the distance with Clarke, and looks into her eyes so that Griffin's legs give way from the closeness. She was not ready for this, she does not want it, but she stands still, like a mouse that has fallen under the influence of a poisonous snake. Clarke runs a confused look, as luck would have it, over the slightly parted plump lips of the brunette, causing a barely noticeable smile on her face...

\- "Are you sure about that?" Lexa whispers against Clarke's lips as she watches the blonde's chest rise quickly and often.

\- "In what?" She, imitating Lexa, whispers in bewilderment in response.

\- “That I should leave you alone…” Lexa lightly touches Clarke's wrist with her finger, leading her up her arm.

Griffin flinches at the sudden touch, feeling a wave of treacherous goose bumps... She loves it as hell, and at the same time it was wrong. She tried to overcome this insane desire to feel the hot lips of a brunette on her lips, taste them, enjoy them until her breath stopped... And yes, damn it, if not for the musicians scurrying back and forth, Clarke would fucked Lexa right here, pressing her with her whole body against the wooden lacquered stage, completely satisfying her lingering hunger since the break with Bellamy...

Lexa's finger playfully pulls back the strap of Clarke's dress, ripping it out of her crazy fantasies. She looks at the brunette with a clear look and, tangled with her hand in her hair, pulls her to the back of her head and greedily covers her lips with hers... Clarke kisses Lexa as if this is the very first and last time ...

\- "Yes ..." Griffin whispers, without interrupting the kiss, grabbing Lexa's lips with her teeth, biting them lightly, but then gently caressing her tongue.  
\- "I want... that you... leave me alone... just like a year ago..."

Clarke suddenly pulls away, but Lexa puts her arms around her waist and hugs her tightly, returning the blonde's lips to the interrupted kiss and deepening it deeper.

\- "Not this time, Clarke...'' Lexa backs away, her hazy gaze peering into excited blue eyes.

\- "Then, now it my turn to escape..." Clarke smiles sadly, looking at the green-eyed surprised face before leaving her alone.  
\- "Goodbye Miss Debois ..."

*****

\- "Clarke, where have you been? I'm all about ..." Rachel does not have time to finish, Griffin grabs her wrist and drags her along.  
\- "Where are we going?"

Burroughs twists her head in confusion, trying to figure out where, as she noticed, an angry Clarke is leading her. But the blonde is silent, boldly heading for the exit and, collectedly pursing thin, slightly cracked from rough kisses, lips. At the exit, Griffin catches a taxi and practically pushes her into the back seat of the car, and then sits down next to her.

\- "Where are we going, Clarke?" Rachel asks timidly, glancing at the blonde, who thoughtfully watches the night lights of the city.

\- "You'll find out soon enough ..." Clarke replies quietly, casting a quick glance at the confused Rachel.

After a couple of minutes, the car stops at the Clarke Hotel. She quickly pays the taxi driver and gets out of the cab, holding Rachel's hand tightly in her hand. 

The girl is silent and obediently follows her into the elevator. It's all very clear when Griffin closes her room door and slams a girl into it. She looks for a long time into eyes darkened with anticipation of nearness and kisses her greedily, taking her lips with dry lips, lightly touching them with her tongue, nibbling until it hurts and letting go, breathing raggedly and burning the skin of her face with hot breath. 

Clarke wraps her hands around the waist of the blonde, strokes her bare back in the neckline of her dress with her sweaty palm, and deepens the kiss, touching her tongues and caressing Rachel's swollen lips from bites, pretending for a moment that she is kissing Lexa...

«Damn, damn, damn! Clarke, what are you doing?» her own voice rushes through her head with notes of disappointment, and Griffin pulls away to take a breath and once again analyze the whole situation, but not for long, Rachel again draws her into a hot kiss, stroking the delicate skin of the inner side of Clarke's thigh with her fingers, heading up to the lace panties...

\- “Hell, no…” Clarke breaks the kiss and pulls away, looking fearfully into excited, hazy eyes and bites her lip painfully.

\- “Clarke, what's wrong with you…” Rachel asks in surprise with a slight hoarseness in her voice.

She reaches out to take Clarke into a hug, but she shakes her head in dismissal, turns away and goes to bed, shyly sitting down on the edge of the bed.

\- "God, what am I doing?" the heart is disgusting, want to cry, Clarke tried to find a replacement, tried to forget, but instead there is a sweet smile of full lips and a warm look of green eyes before her eyes. - “I shouldn't have done this…To drag you along… Rachel, forgive me, but I can't…"

Burroughs is disappointed, but understands everything perfectly. Rachel sits down next to Clarke and hugs her gently. Griffin looks with a bewildered gaze of blue eyes at the calm face of the girl and stops at the lips that are swollen from her bites ...

\- "It's all because of Lexa, right?" Rachel strokes the blonde's hair, hugging her and letting her rest her head on her shoulder.

\- "Is that so obvious?" Clarke exhales heavily, looking up at Rachei's calm face.

\- "Yes..." Rachel smiles back, tucking a stray strand of hair around Clarke's ear.  
\- "I think your sympathy is mutual. She has changed a lot since the moment you arrived... You should talk to her."

\- "No... She has Costia, and I'm just a ghost of the past, who, moreover, will return to New York tomorrow..." Clarke tries to control her emotions, but in her voice there are still notes of sadness that do not go unnoticed from an inquisitive Rachel's gaze .

\- "Maybe, you won't decide for the two of you... Moreover, it's more like Costia a ghost, she lives in Paris and appears here once, maybe two, a year. If there were feelings between them, I don’t think Lexa would sit with folded hands, and didn’t leave everything and went to her. Damn it, Clarke! You need to fight for your feelings, and not rush into the arms of the first girl on your way to have sex with her and try to forget! Did you kiss me and represent her?"

Clarke looks with a frightened look at the stern face of the blonde and, guiltily bowing her head, shyly replies:

\- "Sorry…"

Rachel grins bitterly and, pulling away from Clarke, gets out of bed and heads for the door.

\- “I didn't want it to work out this way…” Griffin throws guiltily at the trail, forcing Rachel to stop and turn to look at her.

\- "I understand everything, Clarke, it's just a shame that I got such a role... See you soon..."

\- “Fool, fool, fool ...” Clarke grabs her head with her hands as soon as Rachel leaves, realizing what a shitty situation she has created.

She sits like this for a couple of minutes, looking at the patterns on the headboard, until there is a knock on her room door.

\- “Rachel, I… I'm really sorry…” Clarke opens the door, dumbfounded.  
\- "Lexa?"

The brunette is silent for a couple of seconds, looks into blue surprised eyes, before taking a step forward and closing the door behind her. She resolutely takes Clarke into her arms and covers her lips with hers, kissing them so passionately and breathtakingly that Griffin even forgets that she wanted to send her a couple of seconds ago. And now, more than anything in the world, she wants to kiss those lips, look into the darkened green eyes by the veil of excitement and literally completely dissolve in a gentle and at the same time strong embrace. 

Lexa kisses hot, sensual, which makes Clarke feel a sweet tension in the lower abdomen, and her panties are treacherously wet. And this is just a kiss, the thought of what will happen to her if Lexa decides to go further... And she decides, pushes Clarke onto the bed and climbs on top of her, looking at her face, ruddy from excitement and lack of air, stopping with a languid gaze that excites the imagination on slightly trembling, parted lips. 

Clarke is silent, waiting, the words are now clearly useless. Lexa smiles with the corners of her lips and slowly leans towards Clarke's face, stopping a few millimeters away from her and looking into the blonde's dilated pupils as if asking permission.

Clarke feels hot breath on her lips and can no longer hold back, she lifts her head to meet such captivating lips, covering them with hers... She feels a wet hot tongue sliding past her lips, colliding with her tongue, causing millions of goose bumps... 

The blonde deepens the kiss, wrapping her arms around Lexa's neck and burying them in the silky hair that smells of chocolate spread over her shoulders... Lexa suddenly pulls away, causing Clarke to silently displease and sigh in confusion. She looks so imperiously into Griffin's eyes that she obediently waits for what will happen next. The brunette gently takes Clarke's hands in hers and puts them on her hips, slowly directing them up and pulling up the hem of the dress... 

Clarke would love to rip it off Lexa a couple of seconds ago, but she obeys the languid, imperious gaze of emerald eyes and repeats the movements of her hands. The throat was dry with excitement as the edges of the dress rose even higher, revealing unexpected and pleasant views ...

«Damn it, Lexa... You are without underwear...» Clarke bites her lips, directing her curious gaze between slender legs... 

Lexa smiles contentedly, watching the excited blonde, eagerly studying her body with her eyes. She leads Clarke's palms up, exposing her gaze to a flat tanned tummy, with a cute dimple on it... 

Griffin lets out a soft moan when she feels the skin of her hands elastic bumps with small nipples protruding from excitement. The brunette stops, gently leans over to Clarke, releasing her hands and thereby allowing her to pull off her dress. As soon as the dress falls to the floor, the green-eyed woman straightens up, allowing the blonde to see her better.

\- "You are beautiful ..." Clarke breathes, breaking the silence that has stretched between them since the moment she opened the door.

Lexa smiles contentedly as she uses her fingers to unbutton Clarke's dress. The blonde wants to help in order to quickly get rid of unnecessary fabric, and she even stretches her hands, but removes them, catching the stern green-eyed gaze.

«Roger that, Commander ...» Clarke jokes in her mind, content with hre position of complete submission.

Lexa tosses the belt to the side and reaches up to grab the hem of Clarke's dress, gently touching her fingertips to the blonde's thighs. 

She follows the hazy blue-eyed gaze, lifting the fabric above the black lace panties, belly and chest. The brunette stops her gaze at the sheer bra and licks her dry lips, driving Clarke crazy with this action. Griffin breaks down, rises on her elbows to help pull off her dress, but Lexa pushes her onto the pillow and does everything herself, then returns her lips for a kiss, and Clarke frantically grabs them with hers, caressing her tongue, lightly biting the already plump sweet lips that she dreamed of from the very first moment when she first tasted them. 

Lexa responds with bite to bite, mouthing Clarke's soft moan. The palms of the brunette slide along the belly and chest, describing circles and other simple patterns. She smiles rather, without interrupting the kiss, feeling goosebumps under her palms on the light milky skin, moves her lips to the blonde's neck, lightly biting her, leaving traces that most likely will not go away for another three days ...

Clarke arches in her back as soon as she feels Lexa's palms under the fabric of her bra, gently squeezing her breasts and stroking her nipples with her fingers... Everything hurts painfully in the lower abdomen, demanding immediate release, but Lexa continues to kiss Clarke's neck, rising up and grabbing her earlobe with her lips, lightly biting him and pulling back, then returning down to the collarbones, describing the patterns in the hollow between the breasts with the tongue. 

Clarke leans forward, allowing Lexa to unbutton and remove her bra, which follows the belt on the floor. Plump lips immediately touch the breast that has been freed from tissue, kiss gently, sweetly, leaving wet marks on the skin from the tongue, blowing lightly on them, causing unusual insanely pleasant sensations. Clarke bites her lips painfully, stifling another groan as Lexa bites her nipple, then caressing it with her tongue to calm this sweet pain... Her hands continue to wrinkle and stroke her breasts as her lips continue to travel across Clarke's skin, sinking lower and lower...

\- "Damn... do it..." Clarke moans sweetly as Lexa grabs the elastic of her panties with her teeth and pulls them down.

\- “If I just wanted to fuck you, I would have done it even then at the stage…” Lexa whispers quietly, throwing her panties aside and looking at Clarke completely naked.  
\- "I want to love you, Clarke..."

She rises up, passionately kisses Clarke on the lips, touching her naked bodies and resting her knee between her legs, feeling how wet she is now and pleased with the result, barely perceptible to her ear moans. 

The blonde bites her nails into Lexa's back as soon as she starts to move, bites her lips painfully, penetrating her tongue deeper, making the kiss passionate, vulgar and mind-blowing ...

\- "Yes ..." Clarke whispers through a groan right into the lips of Lexa, feeling how the release is approaching, but at this moment Lexa pulls away, interrupting the caresses, then to continue them again as soon as the tension subsides.

\- "Lexa ..." Clarke is clearly unhappy with the brunette's turn, continuing to gently kiss her neck and chest.

In one movement she crushes the brunette under her and hotly kisses her lips, biting and pulling them off. Griffin, without ceremony, sits down on Lexa's thigh and begins to move, covering the brunette's chest with kisses and moaning softly.

\- “Not so fast, Princess…” Lexa whispers, returning to the top.

She puts her hands behind Clarke's head and holds them tightly with one hand so that she doesn't try to take the initiative again. 

Griffin looks at the brunette's face with undisguised interest, biting her lip in anticipation. Lexa grins, licks her lips so sexy, giving Clarke a wave of goosebumps from surging excitement ... 

Green-eyed again looks imperiously into the blonde's eyes, lifting her palm up her thigh... Clarke groans sweetly as Lexa runs her fingers between her legs. She pushes her hips forward, wanting to continue, but the brunette is in no hurry, continuing to stare into the misty blue eyes that begged to end this sweet torture.

\- “Please…” Clarke whispers. - "Lexa, please..."

That was enough, the brunette lets go of Clarke's hands, taking her into her arms and penetrating her first with one finger, and then adding a second...

Her eyes darken from lack of air, and Clarke thinks that a little bit more and she will faint from the sensations that Lexa gave her. 

The discharge was approaching with every movement, and the blonde hugs her «Commander» tighter in her arms, fearing that she will stop again and this torture will be repeated from the beginning. But Lexa does not stop, breathing raggedly into Clarke's neck, continues to move and intercept the moans escaping her lips with her lips...

\- “I love you…” Clarke breathes, arching in her back as soon as the release comes, feeling a wave of sweet tremors throughout her body.

Lexa smiles fondly and leaves a light kiss on the corner of Clarke's lips.

\- "I love you too, Clarke..."

*****

Despite a sleepless night, Clarke woke up early. Lexa sleeps so sweetly that a smile involuntarily escapes the blonde's lips. She would like to kiss her, cuddle up again with her whole body and continue to sleep like that, but this desire is prevented by a vibrating telephone somewhere in the room. Clarke carefully gets out of bed and walks toward the sound.

This is Lexa's phone, the name of the caller is displayed on the display, and everything inside Clarke painfully turns over.

«Costia ...» Clarke pulls her hand to the phone, hoping that the other end will still be dropped, but «Lexa's wife» was very persistent and again, after a couple of seconds, her name appeared on the extinct screen.

«Accept...» Clarke brings the phone to her ear with trembling hands and quietly answers:

\- "Yes."

\- "Darling, finally!" there was a cheerful voice with an accent, from which Clarke, unpleasantly stabbed in the ears.  
\- “I got a ticket for today's flight, so wait for me tonight. Hope you slept well?"

The phone slips out of her sweaty hand and falls to the floor.

\- "Hello, Lexa?" is barely audible from her speaker before short beeps began to be heard.

«Costia. Arrives. Today…» Clarke gets nervous, looks at the sleeping Lexa and then on the phone.

Hastily pulling on jeans and a white T-shirt, Clarke cautiously slipped out of the room. She needed time to think about it ...

*****

\- "Clarke?" Lexa stretches sleepily, getting out of bed and looking around.

The blonde didn't answer... Lexa glanced into the bathroom just in case, making sure that Clarke was not in the room... «This is not the morning I imagined ...» Lexa grins bitterly, noticing her phone on the floor. A couple of messages from the secretary and one missed one from Costia. And then everything falls into place ...

\- "Heck!" Lexa is angry at herself, picking up a dress from the floor and putting it on.

Enrages. This whole situation. Lexa bites her lips in despair, deciding what to do next and where she should look for Clarke now, through the dance of thoughts, not noticing how the door opens behind her, and the blonde walks into the room with two cups of coffee.

\- “Hi.” Clarke tries to stay calm, even though the storm is raging inside.  
\- "I went for coffee ..."

\- “Hi,” Lexa smiles happily back, taking the coffee she’s handed to her from the blonde’s hands.

There was a tense silence. Clarke carefully sits down on the bed and looks like she wants to ask something, but holds back and says nothing, taking a sip of hot coffee and licking her burned lip. And Lexa doesn’t know how to behave now, Clarke’s composure and calmness frightens, although there is clearly an understatement in the air. She shyly sits down next to Griffin and looks down at the glass in her hands, bewildered.

\- "By the way ..." Clarke breaks the silence, sipping coffee from her glass.  
\- “Your wife called you, and I accidentally answered the call… But don't worry, she thought she was talking to you…” Griffin casts an indifferent glance when faced with a surprised green. - "She flies in tonight and wondered if you had enough sleep... You have had enough sleep, haven't you?"

At the last sentence, the voice trembled treacherously, and Clarke hides her excitement by hastily sipping her coffee.

\- “Clarke… I…"

\- “You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Clarke interrupts the confused brunette.  
\- "It's all right, really ... Thank you for a great night, I needed it ..."

Lexa can't believe her ears, a couple of hours ago Clarke confessed her love for her, and now she acts as if none of this happened.

\- "Thank?! Do you thank me for the sex?" Lexa replies indignantly, placing her glass of coffee on the floor.  
\- "You make it sound like I did you a favor ..."

\- "And so it is. You did me a favor." Clarke says coldly, trying to keep her surging emotions under control.

\- "It's because of Costia, isn't it?" taking Clarke's hands into her own, asks Lexa, running her gaze over the calm, detached face of the blonde.  
\- "Damn, Clarke, we are just friends, there is nothing between us ..."

\- "Tell that to her!" Clarke gets angry and pulls her arms up, crossing them over her chest.

\- "She knows about it ..."

\- "Of course ... That's why she asked if you had enough sleep ..." Clarke snapped, jumping out of bed and going to the window, looking at the bustle of the city in it.

Lexa follows and gently hugs Clarke by the shoulders, wants to kiss on the cheek, but the blonde turns away.

\- "I love you, Clarke... I shouldn't have left you, but I was so confused in myself... Your engagement to Bellamy, I thought you'd get cold feet, leave me, but in the end I got cold feet myself, ran away as soon as I felt that I was falling in love with you ..." the brunette looks timidly into the blonde's bright eyes, as if trying to read in them what she is thinking.

\- "I broke up with Bell that evening when I arrived from you..." Clarke calmly replies, putting her hand on Lexa's hand on her shoulder.  
\- "And you took my heart and left... Damn, I even hired a detective to found you... And when I finally found you, I found out that you are with the other..."

\- "If you are embarrassed by the stamp in the passport, I will divorce her, I promise as soon as the term of the will expires... I want to be with you, Clarke, I want to bear the name Griffin and kiss you in the morning, unless, of course, you will leave for coffee like today..."

Clarke doesn't hold back a smile, mentally imagining how ridiculous her surname sounds with the name of a brunette. She finally gives up, pulling Lexa for a kiss.

\- "You know how stupid your name sounds in combination with my last name?" Clarke whispers into the brunette's lips, scorching them with hot breath.

Lexa smiles so hard that Clarke's heart pounds in her chest. How she missed that breathtaking smile... Griffin admires this charm for a moment before kissing  
plump sweet lips, putting into this kiss all the tenderness that is now aching in her soul... 

The brunette throws her hands on her shoulders, gently wrapping them around her neck and burying herself in fluffy blond curls, kissing deeper, vulgar and intoxicating, completely subordinating to her will... But the phone works the alarm clock, and Clarke pulls away from Lexa, giving her a guilty kiss on the corners of her lips.

\- “It's time for me to get ready…” Clarke answers, confused, turning off the alarm.

\- "Where?" Lexa raises an eyebrow in surprise.

\- "I'm leaving for New York today..."

\- “But Marcus leaves in three days.” Lexa sits down on the bed, watching Clarke pull out a suitcase.

\- "He asked to take the documents early... And someone needs to keep an eye on the company while he is gone..." Clarke thinks on the move, avoiding the gaze of her green eyes.

\- "It turns out, if I hadn't lost my temper and hadn't come here, I wouldn't have found you here today?"

\- “No…” Clarke replies, picking up yesterday’s dress from the floor and stuffing her suitcase.  
\- "I'm flying away, Costia arrives, you're just fine."

\- “Clarke, don't start…” Lexa gets up and takes the blonde's serious face into her gentle hands.  
\- "I will come to you as soon as I talk to Costia..."

\- "How long have you not seen her?"

\- "Three months. Does it really matter?" Lexa kisses, barely touching her lips, her gaze returning to deep blue eyes.

\- "I'm afraid that you won't be able to keep your promise... Or you will have something... Of course, she's still your wife, and I shouldn't react like that or forbid you to do it..." Clarke answers in confusion, nervously biting her lips.

\- "Silly..." Lexa smiles sweetly, gently stroking Clarke's cheek with the pads of her fingers.  
\- “I swear allegiance to you, Clarke Griffin..."

\- “And I to you…” Clarke breathes out those words, moving her lips to the intoxicating lips of the brunette and engaging them in another dizzying kiss.

\- "Maybe you won't fly anywhere?" The green-eyed moans as Clarke breaks the kiss.

\- "I must…"

\- "Then I will take you to the airport, and you will give me one more magic kiss..."

\- "What if someone from your acquaintances sees you and then tells everything to your wife?" Clarke jokes, causing the brunette to look indignantly.

\- "Cla-a-arke!

\- "I'm kidding... let's go."

*****

All the way to the airport, they drove in silence, music played quietly from the speakers (Prime Circle - As Long As I Am Here (Cafe d'Afrique Mix), adding sadness. Clarke listened to the lyrics of the song and looked at the proud profile of Lexa, who was watching the road with concentration. Everyone was thinking about something...

Clarke bites her lower lip painfully, imagining that after some half an hour, she will say goodbye to Lexa and turns to the window, hiding tears gathering in her eyes and looking at the busy streets of Los Angeles. 

When it was not long to go to the airport, Clarke realizes that she is afraid, afraid that Lexa will stay with Costia, that she will break her heart, that she will not keep her promise, and tears slid down her face arbitrarily. Clarke does not want to fly and cannot stay, because she will torment herself with the thought that Lexa is somewhere nearby, but not alone ...

Lexa parks her car outside the airport and gently hugs the upset blonde.

\- "Baby ..." she tenderly kisses Clarke on the lips, looking with sad eyes, in the Clarke's red eyes from tears.  
\- "Please... I'm with you, I'm near ..."

\- "Promise that we will meet again?" Clarke asks in a voice trembling with tears, tucking a stray strand of hair behind Lexa's ear.

\- "We will meet again, Clarke... We will definitely meet," the brunette whispers quietly, swallowing a lump of tears goes to her throat.

Clarke smiles back fondly and gets out of the car. They announced the boarding for her flight, but she really didn't want to leave the embrace of tender and dear hands.

\- "I will come one of these days, I promise ..." the brunette whispers, tenderly kissing the lips, salty from tears.

«Boarding flight 697 is ending ..»

\- “I have to go…” Clarke reluctantly pulls away, heading for the gangway.

Lexa smiles with great effort and waves her hand goodbye, and then turns away, giving vent to tears ...

\- "Lexa!" the brunette turns around, looking up at the cute smiling blonde.  
\- "I love you!"

\- "I love you too, Clarke!" shouts the brunette, through the hum of the landing plane.

*****

Lexa leaves the airport, heading for the parking lot, but someone abruptly grabs her arm and pulls her towards him.

\- "Ma chère?" the clear voice of the girl, brought Lexa out of the trance state.

\- "Costia? You said you'd come at night ..." Lexa replies with a bewildered smile before Cos squeezes her tightly in hers arms.

\- "I wanted to warn and surprise at the same time. What are you doing here?" the brunette smiles happily, kissing Lexa on the cheek.

\- "I saw off my new colleague, I told you that we have teamed up with Arcadia..." Lexa replies, taking the suitcase from Costia's hands.

\- "She's beautiful?" Cos asks mockingly, getting into the car while Lexa puts suitcase in the trunk.

\- “Very,” the green-eyed replies mockingly, before getting behind the wheel.

\- "Cool…"


End file.
